Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Secret of the Marine Resort
by Traveling Trainer
Summary: When Team Returners receives an invitation to a two-day festival held at the Marine Resort, the pair end up finding more than they bargained for. When Team Skull shows up, will they be able to save the day? A continuation of Explorers of Sky. Completed!
1. Deal

**A/N (March 25, 2013): This was my first foray into writing fiction with original, long-paced stories instead of short oneshots. It was written a long time ago, before I had done much of the world-building that I've done for Mystery Dungeon nowadays; as such, I don't really consider this "canon" to what I've world-built now. With that being said, if you want to read this, then go ahead and enjoy.**

* * *

><p>"Urgent mail for Team Returners! I repeat, urgent mail for Team Returners!"<p>

My eyes flicked open, a strange shuffling sound breaking the serene ambiance of the waves that crashed against the rocks, the stillness of the air of the shared base shattered by our intruder. I turned my head to look at my partner, the cream-furred fox batting her eyes, trying to adjust to the dimness of our home. I stood up as slowly as I could, trying not to make myself dizzy from grogginess, and I moved over to a small iron torch, the fire burning atop it the only light in the entire bluff. My paw grasped it carefully, trying to avoid the sharp bits that poked out at certain points from the tall metal, and I quickly swung around, rubbing at my eyes with my other paw.

"Wha… who is it?" I asked, groaning halfway into the question, and I blinked one eye wide, trying to keep it open as best I could. A tiny, brown something-or-other peeked his face out from the dirt, gazing brightly at me. Rose grunted in irritation and flopped back down on the straw bed, and I strode over, shaking her gently. She never was a morning person.

"Rose, wake up. It's Diglett," I said, and she yawned again, flopping onto her other side to occupy the space I had been sleeping in, and she curled up, her nine fluffy tails covering her body as best they could. I shook her more forcefully, the sleepiness finally beginning to leave my mind. "Rose, we have mail, wake up!"

She gave a soft moan as her ruby-red eyes opened, moving her head up to lick my cheek. "G'morning, Bill…"

I left her for a moment as I stepped up the slope leading outside, and I gently opened the trapdoor to peek out. The moon was right above our heads. I grumbled as I moved back over to Diglett and Rose, who were now greeting each other.

"Diglett, couldn't this have waited? It's… I dunno, midnight," I spoke, more annoyance creeping into my voice than I would have liked. He shook his head.

"Sorry, Bill, Rose. I do share your sentiments, though," He replied matter-of-factly. "I've been delivering these to exploration teams around this area all night!"

I knelt down to him, patting him on the head. All night? What mail could be so important to be delivered this late at night… or rather, this early in the morning? He shot down into his little tunnel, and I glanced at Rose, who padded up to me with another large yawn. I tousled the fur between her ears and she sneezed, her snout letting loose tiny embers that landed on the stone floor.

"Diglett," She started. "How many times do I have to tell you to just wake Bill up?"

"Sorry, Rose, but this is an important letter from the I-A-E-T!" The little mole enunciated the last four syllables, and both my and Rose's eyes widened. Rose and I, ever since rescuing the legendary explorer Scizor from Blizzard Island almost a year ago, had been closely in contact with the International Association of Exploration Teams, and it was always an honor to receive mail from them, no matter what it might have been.

"Maybe it's another mission? I wouldn't put it past them," Rose wondered aloud, voice thick with confusion, and I nodded absentmindedly. We didn't get many missions from them, seeing as they had contact with thousands of different exploration teams, but when we did it was always at the most inopportune times. I grumbled inwardly as I remembered the time when a mission request was delivered to us in the middle of the sea, while in the middle of a completely different mission. Truly the skeleton that held the exploration guilds together had 'impeccable timing', to quote Rose's thoughts on the subject. A miniature tremor came from the hole in our floor, and Diglett appeared again, an envelope delicately balanced on top of his head, the signature red-wax seal keeping the folded paper closed.

"No, it's not a mission this time. Go ahead and take it, I'm going to bed," He said exhaustedly, and he thrust forward with his forehead, the letter falling onto the ground. Before Rose and I could voice our thanks, he had disappeared, Sharpedo Bluff going back to its relative stillness, the ambiance of the crashing waves taking over once again. I reached over to the letter and picked it up, dangling it between two of my pawpads.

"Well, may as well open this up and read it. Rose, help me out?" I asked her, and she nodded, swiftly gathering a circle of stones before launching a flamethrower at it, lighting a roaring campfire in the middle. As I held the letter near the blaze to melt the wax, I turned to Rose.

"What do you think it is?" I said. It was a rhetorical question, but I was pretty sure that – like every other rhetorical question I asked – Rose would answer me anyway. She was just like that.

"Well, whatever it is-"

Bingo.

"-we'll find out in a few seconds, right?" She commented cheerfully, and I leaned into her, nuzzling behind her ear. She let out a cute cry of contentment as I did so, and she began to twist her tails over to tickle my side. I barked out a peal of surprised laughter as I nearly flopped over, and I hopped away from the fuzzy onslaught. She trotted backwards and gave chase round and round the fire, expertly poking and prodding my weak points.

"C'mon, not while I'm holding the letter," I pleaded through a chuckle as I twisted around to face her, and she smiled disarmingly, stopping in place. Taking the moment to catch my breath, I looked at the letter, the wax having melted enough to be able to open up the envelope. I was about to do so when a stray tail had batted it out of my hand, and it landed near the straw bed. My eyes widened as the other eight tails lashed out at me, launching me away, and I let out an 'oof!' as I landed a couple paces away. Before I could defend myself, she was on me, a merciless tickling assaulting me from all sides.

"Ro-ho-ho-ose! Stoop! Pleeheeheehee-" I could barely breathe, the sensations overpowering my senses, and I pulled her into a hug to stop her, tightly clinging her to my body, her fur brushing against my blunted chest-spike. Her tails splayed out as she yelped in surprise at my sudden counterattack, finally freeing me from her playful act. I nuzzled her cheek affectionately, and she did the same to my own.

"C'mon, Rose, we should check what the IAET sent us," I said, reaching feebly for the paper in question, and she untangled herself from me. As I gratefully stretched my joints, she nipped at the letter with her teeth, shredding the envelope to reveal the stationary inside, then tilted her head in surprise.

"Huh? Diglett was telling the truth, this isn't a mission…" As she stood back, I plucked the paper from the dusty ground, giving it a quick once-over before really reading it. It was fancy, nothing like the typically-torn scraps that most rescue requests were written on, with a faint pink tint and a decorative trim bordering the edges. The flourish-y handwriting, as well, was unfamiliar, especially when compared to the rather messy scrawl that Rose and I had. I could barely read the thing, it took me five silent tries to finally think that I understood that it seemed to be an… invitation to something. Not a mission, but something else.

"**To Team Returners of Treasure Town's Wigglytuff Guild,**" I stated proudly, imitating the fancy cursive of the letter. Rose giggled. "**As a Master-ranked exploration team, you are hereby invited to the first annual Master's Festival, to be held at the Marine Resort this coming weekend. If you decide to attend, simply arrive at the Marine Resort this Friday, and you will be marked as an attendee. Should you choose not to come, you may continue with your exploration duties and pretend this letter was never delivered.**"

I coughed a bit to clear my throat, and Rose cut me off before I could continue. "A festival for Master-ranked teams? Seems sort of odd, don't you think?"

I nodded flatly. It _was_ odd for the IAET to hold a party for anything, much less to be starting a yearly event. I held on to a little bit of hope. "Maybe they've had an influx of funding and decided to celebrate a little?"

Rose let out a 'hmmm', and I rubbed at the underside of my jaw. "Oh well, we'll talk about it later. Here's the rest of the letter."

She nodded, moving behind me to peek over my shoulder as I spoke. "**However, I do believe that any and every team will enjoy themselves if they attend, and I hope I see you there!**"

I had one more quick skim-over before placing the letter near Rose so she could read it herself; from the (pretty funny) expressions of frustration she made while doing so, I figured that she had as much trouble understanding it as I did. By the time she stepped back, the sky was only just beginning to turn a lighter shade of blue, the sun shining despite its not-being-visible yet. I looked at her, then the letter, which had oddly started to deteriorate, almost like it was supposed to not be kept. Made me think of their mission requests, which sort of did the same thing by-

Wait. Shoot! I snatched up the paper, flipping it over to look at the missed note on the back. In striking, jet-black ink, a more scratchy sentence was clear.

"Signed, Chief Samurott… this message is self-deleting," I recited, confirming my hunch just in time, as the stationary suddenly fell to pieces. Rose let out a quiet yip of surprise as the sight, although she calmed shortly afterward, and wisely scooped the stray scraps into our treasure bag so that they wouldn't blow away and litter the area.

"Figures they'd pull that with the rest of their mail," She remarked gruffly. "Wake us up, invite us to a party, then they destroy the records. How polite the IAET are!"

"I've never heard of this 'chief' guy before," I said, and Rose nodded in agreement. "Obviously he's important if he's the one writing on behalf of the IAET, but I don't think I've even heard of… well, anyone that works with them besides Scizor."

Rose glanced up at the trapdoor that lead out of our cozy little home. "Do you think we should talk to Chatot and Guildmaster Wigglytuff?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but closed it. That was a good question, one that I hadn't thought of. The Guildmaster and his right-hand bird were the ones who ran the Wigglytuff Guild, which was part of the association, so it would only make sense that they had at least some contact with them. Whether their contacts were named (or whether the messages destroyed themselves like ours did) neither Rose nor I had the foggiest idea. At the moment, that was the best thing we could do.

"…Yes, Rose, that's a great idea," I smiled and stroked her back, earning a bashful aside-glance in response. "We should do that first thing in the morning before we get the jobs for the day."

She suddenly began to giggle as she pointed her snout towards the outcropping in the bluff, and I looked out to see the sunrise. It was already morning. I turned to her as she tried to keep a bout of laughter in.

"Addendum: we should do that first thing after we get some sleep," I flopped down onto the straw bed, the early-morning exhaustion finally catching up to me, and I drifted off almost immediately. Rose snuggled up to my side, letting out a large yawn before wrapping us up in her tails and dozing off as well.

We ended up snoozing straight into the afternoon, waking up at what would have been lunchtime, and had to hoof it over to the Guild in order to ask Wigglytuff about the message before he got too wrapped up in other matters. The hard leather rucksack that carried all our things rhythmically bumped against my leg as I ran, the items inside jostling around wildly.

"I guess we should be glad that he always takes all morning to stop playing with his breakfast and eat it, eh?" I quipped at Rose as we ran through Treasure Town.

"At least he's so attached to his Perfect Apples that they take him that long, anyway," She laughed back, a light trail of dust flowing from her paws.

Thankfully it didn't take too much time to get to the Pokemon-shaped tent at the edges of the town, and we stepped down the ladders leading to the ground floor. A few teams were still hanging around to choose jobs for the day, but it was otherwise silent. As I touched down on the stone floor, my eyes peered around the room and stopped at the sight of a blue-and-black parrot, chatting away to a Drilbur and Sandile. His charges smiled and waved to us as we walked up, although the bird himself continued to blather on, and seemed quite startled when he finally noticed us.

"Oh, Team Returners!" His rather screechy yelp was grating on all ears present, and he immediately lowered his voice. "Er-hem, sorry… what a pleasant surprise to see you both here today!"

I chuckled disdainfully and folded my arms. Good Pokemon that Chatot might have been, I was never very fond of him. "…it's good to see you too, Chatot."

Rose smiled at him and poked one of his sides with her cold nose. "Hi there, Chatot!" Her tone was leaps and bounds friendlier than mine.

Ruffling his wings and standing up straighter, Chatot looked at us with unblinking eyes, his odd tuft of head-feathers still as distinctive as ever. "Ah, hello! And now… what brings you two here today?"

I let my posture slacken as I knelt down to his level (or as close as I could get to it), and Rose planted her bottom down in place, glancing around the area absentmindedly. "Yesterday Diglett delivered a letter to us from the IAET. Something about a festival, signed with a name of someone who we don't know. We were wondering if we could ask Wigglytuff if he knew anything about it."

"_You two_ got an invitation from the IAET?" Chatot chirped a little quickly, and I narrowed my eyes. What was that all about? Chatot composed himself somewhat before continuing, although he was still noticeably flustered. "And it was signed with a name? How strange, normally only the Guildmaster's letters have names. Curious…"

I nodded. "Yeah, we thought it was weird, too. Could we spend a little time talking to Wigglytuff?"

Chatot immediately lashed out, pecking my snout, and I winced as the jabbing beak dug into my fur. I grabbed my nose and swerved backwards as Rose padded over to see what had happened. I leered angrily at the bird.

"Uh, ouch, what was that for!" I yelled in alarm.

"You forget that the Guildmaster must be referred to by his title, not his name," Chatot replied tersely, and I rolled my eyes as blatantly as I could, the meager revenge mellowing me a bit. Chatot coughed as he started to speak again. "However, the Guildmaster actually left a few moments ago to get a drink at Spinda's café instead of his normal breakfast, so he should probably be there. If you leave now, you should catch him."

I was about to give him a snarky retort, but Rose beat me to the punch as she stepped in front of me. "Thank you, Chatot. We'll go meet with the Guildmaster right now!"

Chatot and Rose said their goodbyes, and as I climbed up the ladder leading out of the guild I shot one last weak glare at the stuffy old Pokemon. I stormed through the tentflaps, my paws tightly gripping the air as I took a sharp turn to go behind the tent to look out at the sea beyond. The hilly point that the guild sat on truly had a beautiful view of the ocean, and I closed my eyes to meditate and calm down. Focusing my aura into my mind, I felt the tassels that draped from the back of my head levitate, the energy forming a pool in the pit of my stomach, the world around me dimming… but a fuzzy someone sling her front paws over my shoulders, her head snugly setting itself between my ears. I opened my eyes and let the aura fade as I glanced up at Rose.

"How can you stand him?" I asked.

"You just have to not let things get to you," She replied. I sighed and glanced out at the sea again as she nuzzled my forehead.

"C'mon, let's go to the café. We haven't had any breakfast, so a drink at least would do us both some good." Rose hopped off of me as I rubbed at my stomach, which growled softly in response. I was rather hungry.

We both slid smoothly down the slope and made our way towards the trapdoor leading to Spinda's little place, and we entered, the warmth of the outdoors giving way to a cooler atmosphere lit by candles and quartz-paned windows. The place was quaint and quiet, and rather empty, too, if the many unattended tables were any indication. The only noises that could be heard were Spinda mixing drinks, Wobbuffet and Wynaut setting up for the day, and a large pink Pokemon in the corner that slurped away at an apple smoothie. Rose and I both hid a smile as we walked over to him and sat down at his table. He was completely oblivious to our presence until he had completely drained his glass, and he grinned. "Friendly-friends! It's good to see you, Team Returners!"

I laughed good-naturedly at the nickname Wigglytuff gave… pretty much everybody, now that I thought about it. "Good to see you too, Wigglytuff. Enjoying yourself today?"

He was light and jovial as he nodded, acting almost like a young child despite his middle age, and I crossed my legs and placed my paws on the table, waving over Spinda. Rose scooted closer to me as the loopy bartender toddled over, plucking Wigglytuff's glass and beginning to clean it with a wet, soapy rag. "Hey there, you guys. Want something?"

Rose and I both ordered apple smoothies, and Wigglytuff requested a refill of his, and Spinda wobbled away back behind his counter to begin making the drinks. Satisfied, I looked at Wigglytuff, who had obtained a Perfect Apple from Arceus-knows-where and was no bouncing it on his head. Rose and I didn't bother hiding our smiles this time, although I kept my mind on business.

"Chatot told us that you were here, Wigglytuff. We were wondering if we could ask you something?" I tentatively inquired. A wide grin plastered itself onto his face.

"Friends can always ask other friends about things! What did you want to know, friendly-friends?" He responded, the Perfect Apple only augmenting the boyishness of the pink Pokemon. I took a deep breath and motioned for Wigglytuff to lean in close, so that we could try to keep the knowledge secret.

"Yesterday, we got a letter from the IAET, an invitation to some party. It was signed by someone we don't know, and we don't know if the message is real or not. We thought you might know a little bit more about it," I said as I dug into the treasure bag, hunting for the scraps of the invitation that we had been given, and my paw grasped a handful of the thin papers as I dumped them onto the table. Wigglytuff ooh-ed and reached out for them, and we both began to piece together as much of the letter as we could. In the end, not much was legible, but we could at least read the signature. I gingerly ran a pawpad just above the words, the inky-black words almost gleaming in the light.

"Chief Samurott… Rose and I have no idea. Do you know who this guy is?" I whispered hastily. Wigglytuff nodded, an uncharacteristically serious look gracing his features. At this point, Spinda returned with our three smoothies, and I took two glasses gratefully, placing one in front of Rose while I sipped at the other, the sweet stuff satiating my hunger a bit. Wigglytuff grabbed his own smoothie, tucking his Perfect Apple safely away somewhere, and greedily drained half of his drink before continuing to speak, somehow keeping his dignity while having a mustache of froth around his mouth.

"Chief Samurott… yes, I do know him. He's one of the Pokemon in charge of the IAET as a whole, along with two others," He explained slowly, and I tilted my head. Two others? "It's said that they were some of the greatest pioneers in their youths, exploring most of the world and, of course, starting the whole organization of exploration teams."

Rose and I looked at each other in mild surprise. It was only natural to assume that the ones who ran the whole association were also explorers themselves once, at least I thought. I let my mind wander as I thought of them – if they were the first exploration team, they must have been prolific. "But how come I've never heard of this guy and the 'two others'? If they're the guys who run the IAET, then you'd think they'd be more well-known."

Wigglytuff shook his head, ears flopping around humorously, and he sipped his smoothie again. "They prefer to keep themselves a secret. I'm not sure why, since I barely know them myself, although I assume that we'll meet them at the Marine Resort, right?"

I nodded in agreement. If the IAET was the one hosting the party, then obviously this Samurott person would be there, and then Wigglytuff and Rose and I would be able to meet hi-

I did a double-take. "Wait… we never told you that it was at the Marine Resort."

Wigglytuff gave us a sheepish grin. "I suppose I should be honest with friends; I got an invitation too. Although," He quickly added. "I'll be there less as a guest and more to represent the Guild."

I clapped my paws once. "So that's why Chatot acted so strange when we told him about it."

Rose stopped drinking from her thin wooden straw and half-glanced at me. "Chatot always acts strange around you."

I shrugged in response and Wigglytuff giggled. "Anyway, I don't know much about the festival itself, but I do think that it would be good if you two went. I always see you doing jobs every day, and that's also what I see from other Master-ranked teams, like Team Charm and Team Raiders, whenever they visit us. It would do everyone some good to take a breather."

I leaned back in my chair, my paws behind my head. Wigglytuff had a point; I didn't remember the last time Rose and I had taken a day off. Adventuring, doing search and rescue jobs, it was all fun, but I would have been lying if I said that it never got boring, especially since Rose had a penchant for taking jobs at the Beach Cave (even though that place was better left for the teams that were just starting out). Closing my eyes, I let the mental energy flow through me as auras outlined my two companions.

It had taken me an incredibly long time to finally understand all this, but being a Lucario, I was sort of forced to learn it. Auras were complex things, changing at a moment's notice and always reflecting the feelings of a Pokemon. Most took on a color that represented their current emotion, while their smoothness symbolized their inner thoughts. Rose's aura was blue and fluctuated very slightly, and I fidgeted – blue meant calm, but even gentle shaking meant that she was thinking about things, just as I was. Wigglytuff, on the other hand, was a flat, happy pink – all he seemed to be focusing on was polishing off the rest of his smoothie, which he did with great gusto. I twisted my head as a third, red-colored shape in the back swore loudly as the clunk of a dropped drink glass reverberated through the room.

I opened my eyes. "Well, Rose? What do you think?"

"Huh? Oh, I think that it sounds like fun, but I also don't want to stop doing jobs… think of all those Pokemon that will be left without help," She said, voice flip-flopping from excited to worried. I reached over to tousle her headfur, and she unconsciously purred with pleasure.

"Personally, I think it would be great to take a few days off, but I'll leave it up to you. Besides, if we take a break, then that opens up jobs for the new recruits like Team Diggers," I remarked as nonchalantly as I could. Rose let out a 'hmmm' and stared past me out the window, deep in thought, before taking another sip of her smoothie. I looked over at Wigglytuff again, choosing to change the subject.

"Hey, Wigglytuff… I know you said that you don't know much about the festival itself, but what about the Marine Resort? Manaphy told Rose and I about it once, but we've never visited it," I crossed my legs and leaned forward, and Rose seemed to have an interest as well. Wigglytuff held his head and nodded, slightly off-kilter, probably from his smoothie.

"Ooogh… brain freeze," He grumbled. "Y-yeah, I know a little about the Marine Resort. Want me to tell you, friendly-friends?"

Rose and I both responded with a simple 'yes', and we waited until his brain freeze had passed. "Umm… I know that it's a big tropical island down south of here, and that it's known for its beaches, hot springs, and its famous bath salts. It's populated mostly by water-loving Pokemon, but the IAET had sent down a lot of Timburr and Gurdurr workers a few years back to start working on a construction project there, along with a bunch of Metagross and Alakazam for… something I don't remember."

I rubbed at my chin thoughtfully. "Timburr and Gurdurr? Never heard of them."

"They're the IAET's main building crew, so they get sent around a lot. They're naturally nomadic, I guess. They built a lot of the houses of the friendly-friends that live here," Wigglytuff explained. "I only know what I overheard during the occasional Guildmaster meet-up, so I'm not sure what they were making there. Probably something having to do with this festival, though. I don't know much more than that, I'm afraid."

Ignoring the slips of affectionate terminology that Wigglytuff slipped in there, I was satisfied. "It's fine, we learned a lot."

The pink Pokemon hopped off of his chair and dropped a few coins into the empty glass. "Well, I have to get back to the Guild so that I can pack some snacks and things. If you're planning on going to the festival, you oughta do the same, friendly-friends," He grabbed his Perfect Apple and began to bounce it on his head again, and he waddled out of the café, leaving Rose and I alone at the table. I took another sip of my smoothie and winced as I spat an apple seed into my paw.

"Well, Rose? What do you think? Do you want to go to the festival?" I asked, and Rose's wooden straw noisily announced that she had finished her drink. She removed her muzzle from the thin utensil and peered down the glass, quiet. "Rose?"

She turned to me, expression bright but firm, and nodded. "I think… I think I'd like to see what this is all about."

I smiled gently at her and stroked her back, and she rubbed against my side lovingly. "I'm glad. I don't know what it's going to be like, but I bet it's going to be great. Hot springs and beaches, it sounds like fun!"

Slowly a smile appeared on her face as well. "Hot springs… that sounds nice."

"Yeah, right? I know you like those, and it'll be fun to meet other Master-ranked teams. Maybe we'll see Team Charm again! Wouldn't that be cool?" I felt a little bad for deliberately mentioning Team Charm, but I knew that it would get Rose excited. She was a big fan of them, after all.

Rose's smile grew giddy and she stepped off her chair, her tails waving up and down. "Hey, you're right! That'll be great! It'll be fun to see Lopunny and the others again!"

I chuckled at her burst of enthusiasm and stood up, digging into the bag and pulling out a tiny satchel. As I took a few coins from the satchel and placed them near our drink glasses, Spinda clumsily walked up and took the three dishes into his arms. "Thank you for your continued patronage. We hope to see you again!"

Wobbuffet abruptly saluted and called to us from across the room "That's right!"

Rose and I laughed as we left the café, and I stretched my arms as clean, fresh air entered my lungs. A cool breeze blew through the empty crossroads, and we set out along the western path leading through Treasure Town and towards the bluff that was our home.

"So, we should pack, and then we'll meet with Wailord tomorrow to sail us over to the Marine Resort?" I planned, gesturing with my paws. Rose nodded in agreement, and we continued through the town silently. "Are you sure you want to go? We don't have to if you don't want to."

She shook her head. "No, I think I want to go. It'll be fun, right?" She shot me a genuine smile, and I relaxed, giving her a quick hug before continuing.

"Yeah, it'll be fun. Definitely."

* * *

><p>The salty scent of the open ocean wafted its way into my nostrils, nearly causing me to sneeze, droplets of the ocean's moisture spattering onto both our bodies. I wiped my forehead vainly and leaned forward to scan the foggy horizon, our ride bobbing up and down with the waves. I crawled onto all fours as I peered downward at the sea below, and recoiled, a slight pang of worry creeping its way into my mind. I scuttled back to Rose, who was lying down flat atop our ride, and I curled up next to her as Wailord crashed through a particularly high sandbar. I grabbed the bag to make sure it didn't fall off into the depths below, and shuddered as I pictured toppling off myself.<p>

"I hate heights," I grumbled, and Rose licked my cheek, the smell of her Pecha Scarf soothing my senses.

"Don't look down, then," She replied. I shivered a little bit, the fear not leaving, and I snuggled into her warm fur, the harsh wind whipping at our faces. She raised her head and took in a deep breath, smiling as she did so.

"Hey, Wailord," I winced and instinctively raised my hands to my ears as she yelled down to him. "How much longer do you think we have 'til we make it to the Marine Resort?"

A loud, strange-sounding groan emanated from the spout of the Float Whale Pokemon before a pressurized blast of water shot from it, a rainbow forming from the mist that resulted. A deep, throaty voice came out of nowhere.

"I can see an island a few hours away from here, miss Rose," Wailord stated matter-of-factly, and I slumped, relaxing ever-so-slightly as soon as I heard that we were near land. Finally, an end to this whole trip; some solid ground under my feet would do me good.

Rose was more thoughtful than I. "You can see through all that fog?"

A slight dip in movement indicated a nod. "You forget that not only do I have far better sight than you, my dear, but also that my eyes are underwater."

Her jaw dropped before she ducked her head low in embarrassment. "Oh yeah... I forgot."

I chuckled softly as she curled up to try and take a nap, and I leaned backward, staring up at a couple nondescript flying Pokemon in the sky, my eyes following their every movement as they darted in between the clouds. One in particular stood out, a large circular shape that darted its way between the rest, and I stared unblinkingly as it swooped lower and lower towards us. Closing my eyes, I focused the aura into my mind and stood, zeroing in on the unknown Pokemon. His – or her – aura was a determined yellow, and I made to enter a battle stance. However, it took that moment to dive straight towards me, and I yelped as I flung both my arms out in a panic. I flopped quite ungainly onto Wailord's slimy back, grunting in pain as my head clonked onto a particularly tough spot.

"Ow," I cried. "What… was that?" I fumbled for the bag to try and grab the team badge, but a psychic force held my body in place, and I could only watch as my assailant flapped over. It was a large, baby-blue ball of fuzz with a pink, heart-stamped nose, the body punctuated only by a pair of dark wings. It wore a frown, which obviously wasn't a good sign. I struggled fruitlessly against the mental power that kept me down, and the bat-like creature landed on my blunted chest-spike. I bared my teeth.

"Who are you?" The voice was that of an elderly female, and I quit scowling at the Pokemon momentarily from surprise. However, my anger returned in full force.

"If you'd let me get the badge, I'd have gladly told you," I growled. "Attacking me is not a good way to make a first impression, you know."

The bat seemed to frown deeper… or maybe it didn't at all, I couldn't tell because of all the fur that covered the body. "I'm not in the mood for your sass. Who are you?"

I didn't say anything, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of receiving a response. Instead, I simply stared at her and waited, which far more visibly angered the bat, as her tone turned dangerously sweet. "I'll ask you one more time, mister. Who are you and why are you traveling near the Marine Resort?"

"Miss?" Rose's calm voice broke the tension, and the cream-furred fox poked at the bat with her snout. The bat, in turn, jumped (or would it be flew up?) in surprise and swiveled around to look at her new charge.

"Oho? Another traveler? Maybe you'll be more cooperative than this one," The bat seemed to tilt backward, obviously meaning me. Rose gave me a look and I felt my face heat up ashamedly. "Now, if you please, tell me who you two are and why you are traveling near the Marine Resort?"

The Ninetales' face brightened. "Oh, so we are near the Marine Resort? That's good, I was hoping that we had gotten it right. Are you part of the IAET? Can you tell them to stop making self-destroying letters?" Rose's questions came out swiftly before she composed herself.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to ask all of that, I've just had them on the mind. My name is Rose," She introduced herself before nodding towards me. "And he's Bill, my partner. We're Team Returners, on our way to the festival-thingy at the Marine Resort."

The bat flapped over to Rose and perched in between her ears. I rolled my eyes, although I stopped when Rose shot me another disapproving look. "And if that is true, then do you still have your invitation?"

Before Rose could answer, I spoke out. "I'm sorry, miss, and no, we don't, unless you count the scraps of paper left over. It would be easier if you didn't make all your messages rip themselves to shreds." The snark left my mouth before I could stop myself, and I scrunched my face up in annoyance with myself. "If you would stop holding me down, I could both get our team badge and the remains of the invitation for you."

The bat's face turned thoughtful, and she wrapped one of her wings around herself before nodding. "Very well, mister Bill. Go on, get your things." As the psychokinesis keeping me down faded away, I stood up and sighed with relief before grabbing our bag, fumbling for what she wanted. The first thing I pulled out was the handful of scraps that we had kept, which I held out to the bat.

"You may need to rearrange them back in order," Rose remarked off-handedly, and the bat nodded, proceeding to do so. I continued to hunt through our bag for our most important tool, raising it towards the sky when I finally found it. The fog from the early morning was gone now, replaced by warm sunlight that glinted off of the jet-black pin. After rubbing the badge a few times to shine it, I held it out in both paws for the unknown Pokemon to inspect.

"Very well, it looks like you are indeed Team Returners. I apologize for my previous behavior, but I was under orders to make sure that no unwanted trespassers came near the festival." The bat said tersely. I bowed my head.

"I'm sorry too. I was out of line for arguing with you." I said. "But, if I may ask… who are you?"

The bat popped up and hovered in the air before responding. "I am Woobat, leader of chief Samurott's appointed scouts for the IAET. Ah, good, there he is no-" She did a double-take. "Wait, he's _there right now!_"

Woobat, Rose and I looked out, a large, sandy beach greeting our vision. It seemed that in the time we had spent talking with Woobat, we had reached our destination. Wailord, who I had completely forgotten about (to my embarrassment), groaned before shooting off another spout of water to signal our arrival. Woobat zoomed away from us to attend to a blue Pokemon that stood in the shallows, and I hesitantly looked down at them. The new creature nodded at us.

"It's shallow enough to tread water here! Jump down," Chief Samurott called to us, and I looked at Rose and smiled.

"Ladies first," I said, and Rose leapt out, barely making a splash as she landed gracefully next to Samurott. I grabbed our bag before jumping off of Wailord as well, submerging completely into the drink before kicking out, swimming to the surface, and trying as hard as I could not to swallow any salt water. Gulping in fresh air, I looked around at the rest of our little group before we all silently headed to the shore. Wailord let the waves carry him out to deeper waters before he turned around and headed away.

As we trudged up onto the beach, I flailed around, trying to dry my sopping fur as best I could. Rose had the advantage of her fire-typing, and as such she simply increased the temperature of her body, which resulted in her fur becoming large and poofy. I tried hard not to chuckle at the sight. Woobat had simply flown the whole way, and Samurott seemed to have the droplets just slide off of him. Now that we were on land again, I took the time to survey the one who wrote our letter.

He was quite impressive, if I said so myself. A bushy, silver mustache sprouted from his muzzle, and small pieces of armored shells adorned his legs and tail. His shell helmet, with a fearsome spear-like protrusion jutting out in front, completed the image. I knelt down respectfully, not wanting to screw up like I did with Woobat.

"It's good to meet you, chief Samurott," It felt odd referring to him by his title _and_ his name, seeing as I was on first-name terms with everyone in Treasure Town. Chalk it up to shyness, I guess. Rose sat down and nodded, repeating what I had said. To both our surprise, he laughed at us.

"So formal," He quipped. "Come now, stop, you're making me feel old."

Tentatively, I stood up, scratching the back of my head. I watched Samurott draw a sword from his front armor and point it outward into a mess of palm trees. "Follow that path to get to the festival. Go to the meeting hall first. You'll know it when you see it, each building will have a sign next to it."

Rose tilted her head in confusion. "What about you, chief Samurott?"

He gave us a kind smile. "I'm staying here to greet anyone else that arrives this way. Get along now."

Rose and I obediently began to stroll down the path, somewhat dazed by the short encounter with the leader of the IAET. Woobat didn't come with us, so we were alone for the first time that day. The warm air of the tropical forest helped to dry me, although that brought along a new problem, which I attempted to deal with by rubbing at my arms and legs. This seemed to break Rose out of her trance as she looked at me concernedly.

"What's wrong?" She asked, and I paused my actions to look at her. I wonder if I looked pitiful. I hoped I didn't.

"Salt in my fur," I said, and Rose suddenly scratched at her ear. "You too?"

She nodded, and I sighed. "We'll have to wash up when we get the chance." I looked up at the sea of leafy green above our heads, and tried to keep my mind off of our predicament by thinking of what the festival would be like. "Getting excited?"

Rose budged up next to me, glad for the change of subject. "Yeah… chief Samurott was really nice, and this place is so pretty," A bushel of flowers caught her eyes as she spoke, and I plucked one, tucking it behind her other, less-itchy ear. "Thank you… but anyway, it does look like this was a good idea so far..."

She trailed off, leaving me hanging. "So far?"

She grumbled. "Well, I mean… what happens if it's not great? What happens if it turns out to be a big disappointment? Then we'll have wasted a weekend we could have spent doing work," She closed her eyes, thinking. I sighed and tousled her headfur good-naturedly.

"You just have to learn to stop worrying so much. I mean, you're so polite and calm when talking to Pokemon, but you worry about everything. Relax a bit, have a little fun," I brought her into a hug, and she nuzzled into my chest, swaying every so slightly with me as we took comfort in each other's presence. "Besides, I'll always be here for you. I've always been here for you for the past two years."

She mumbled something incoherent into my fur, and I pulled away, gently raising her head with my chin. "What?"

She smiled happily. "Thanks, Bill… I love you…" She suddenly pushed me onto my backside with her tails and ran away.

"Catch me if you can," She cheered joyfully, and I laughed as I hopped up to run down the path, chasing after her.

We spent most of the walk down the path playing our game of tag, the sun winking through the fronds above our heads, and I took the time to savor the warm climate and look around a little bit. Overall, most of the forest was full of trees (duh), but a great many tropical flowers and strange herbs, many of which Rose and I had never seen before, cropped up in nooks beneath exposed roots. Occasional vines draped from higher branches, which Rose took the time to tug on to see if anything would get pulled down (nothing did). It was when my feet finally grazed over a cold stone slab that I looked at where we were going, and I knelt down to feel at the seemingly-foreign entity with my paw.

"Tile…? What would tile be doing here?" I wondered aloud, although Rose didn't hear me as she trotted away down the path, probably not noticing the new ground we treaded on. I dusted off the hunk of rock and was surprised to find an intricate carving of an exploration team badge etched into it. It seemed to be masterfully crafted. I would have taken more time to examine the thing had Rose not screamed out, making me instinctively dash forward to find the cause.

"Bill! Bill! We're here," She yelled, and I forced my way through thick clumps of bushes, tripping and slamming down hard on the tile pathway. Rose nuzzled my shoulder as I got back up, and a gasp escaped my lips before anything else. Rose smiled as she turned to look the same way I did. "_Look at this place!_"

And what a place it was. It looked like a mish-mashed replica of Treasure Town, only far more…modern, I suppose you could say. The pathway leading through the place was all tile and stone, while wooden buildings and small tents were sprinkled liberally throughout the area. Bubbling, gurgling rivers ran from every which way, blocked off by fences of pale granite, and unlit lanterns hung from every roof. The western pathway led to a small outcropping in a mountain, while the rest of the area was surrounded the trees, leading to parts unknown. The centerpiece of the plaza, a giant fountain fed into by the aforementioned river, completed the scene as water pooled into a magnificent cross shape at the base of the container. What was even more astonishing (to me, at least) than the look of the place was the sheer amount of Pokemon that the place contained. It was a veritable sea of exploration teams, probably from around the world, and despite my fervent searching I couldn't recognize a single other team from around the Treasure Town area. A Charizard finished telling a joke to a Psyduck, who only tilted his head in response. Tiny, grey pipsqueaks of Pokemon carrying around wooden planks marched to and fro from the area. A small yellow weasel leaned happily against a sea-blue otter, completely oblivious to the others around them. A large group of Eevee and Vaporeon scampered about, visiting the multiple tents as fast as they could. It was one of the most magnificent things I had ever seen.

"Holy…" I stopped myself from swearing at the last minute, and Rose took a single step forward, her jaw still reaching for the floor. We were silent for a long time, only breaking out of our shock when a Pokemon to our side waved a large iron beam at us.

"Hey," A gruff, thickly-accented voice said, and I glanced over. It was a large, muscled Pokemon, and it hoisted the metal weapon it carried over its shoulder. "You two are festival-goers?"

I nodded dumbly, my voice still trying to find its way back into its voicebox. The Pokemon rolled its eyes and turned, swinging the iron beam around to point at a roof that stood slightly above the rest. "Head there. It's the meeting hall. I suppose mister Samurott told you two to go there already."

Rose began to mindlessly walk in the direction that our friend pointed, and I suddenly found my voice, swallowing loudly before speaking. "T-thank you, mister…"

He waved a paw at us, not really showing much interest anymore. "Gurdurr. I'm a Gurdurr."

"Thank you, mister Gurdurr," I said hastily before going off to catch up with Rose. Turning my head, I caught Gurdurr rolling his eyes and rolling his shoulders before heading away, then apologizing to a Raichu who nearly got clocked by his iron beam. As I finally kept pace with my own partner, she seemed to have finally escaped from her stupor, and I didn't need aura sight to see how much excitement seemed to be boiling inside her. She seemed to skip through the crowded street as happy as can be. I, on the other hand, was rather uncomfortable with the sensation of all the Pokemon. From the outside, it looked incredible; from the inside, it was a mess of 'excuse-me's, brush-pasts, and shoving. I tried my best to avoid bumping into Pokemon, but eventually opted to walk to the meeting hall on the far-less crowded sidewalk. I took care to occasionally check on the cream-colored blur that made its way through the rabble, just so that I could step in if she got lost. Don't get me wrong, I had plenty of confidence in Rose. I had to - we were exploration partners, mates, even. She did get lost occasionally, but we would always stick together whenever we were able.

This eventually manifested itself in my gaze wandering from Rose onto the signs that stood in front of the tents and buildings in the area. My curiosity perked as I took the time to read as many signs as I could, just to see all the things we could do. Most kinds of places repeated themselves, such as storage tents, general stores and banks, which were looked after by their owners. Other places, though, were far more unique, such as a shop exclusively for buying gummi candy, and, to my surprise and delight, many different cafés – so there'd be a place to eat breakfast after all! By the time Rose and I had reached the meeting hall, I was nearly as giddy as she was, matching grins making their way across our faces. With a mutual nod, we went inside our destination.

The place looked a lot like the inside of the Spinda café back home. It was very open, probably so it could hold the multitude of invited guests, with wooden chairs and stepstools neatly ordered in lines. A stage stood at the other end of the building, while the entrance was only attended by a dark wooden table and a couple of small green snakelike Pokemon sitting behind it. Rose and I casually ambled up to the pair, who seemed to be quietly sorting papers. I clapped my paws to get their attention.

"Uh… chief Samurott told us to come here," I stated blandly. The twin snakes scrambled to stuff their papers under the table and turned to us, smiling innocently as they peered up at us.

"Are you Team Returners?" The pair of boys spoke so stereotypically in-tandem that I was hard-pressed not to comment on it, but I thought better of it. Sideways-teardrop heads hummed away as the two waited for an answer, and I rubbed at my head-tassels in an awkward silence, nodding as I pulled our team badge from the bag. As soon as they saw it, the snakes grabbed something from under their chairs, jumped onto the table, and held them out to each of us. I took the item carefully, feeling the thin string in my paws. A small, hard piece of paper was attached to the string, with my name and the team name printed on it. As the giggling Rose allowed one of the twins to place her own name-necklace over her head, I slipped mine on as well. It felt weird, but not irritable. I decided that I would be able to get used to wearing it.

"Those are your nametags for the festival," One of the snakes stated the obvious. "Don't lose them, or else you'll be in trouble!"

The other snake nodded. "Yeah, just always keep them on and you'll be fine."

Rose smiled, her tails waggling around, and gave one of the boys a lick on his head. He giggled. "Thank you, mister… uh…"

"I'm Smuggy. This is my brother, Leafy," He said. "We're both Snivy!" I racked my brain thinking. Snivy. I'd never heard of that Pokemon before. In fact, a lot of the species of Pokemon I had met so far I'd never even seen before. Gurdurr, Snivy, Samurott, Woobat… did the IAET have a whole group of Pokemon all to itself? That couldn't be possible, could it? Suddenly, lots and lots of teams started to pour in, and the two Snivy children scampered off before I could ask what was going on. Rose wrapped a tail around my arm and began to pull me towards the lines of chairs.

"I think we need to sit down, before all the spots get taken," She said, and we both took a seat at the edge of one of the leftmost rows. Rose waited quietly, but I turned around to look at all the Pokemon streaming inside. Most were unfamiliar, but I thought I caught a glimpse of pink and blue. I nudged Rose's side to try and bring her attention to it, but by the time she looked over they had already disappeared. Shrugging in disappointment, I swiveled back. Samurott stood proudly on top of the stage with a few other Pokemon. Behind him were a large, pale green serpent, a black-and-orange boar with a beard of fire, and an aging Tropius whose leaves were turning a slight greenish brown. As soon as the crowd had settled down to a low murmur, Samurott stepped forward.

"Exploration teams," His voice carried well, his tone confident and charismatic. His bushy mustache twitched as he spoke. "On behalf of the IAET, and on the behalf of my team, Team Explorers, it is my honor to welcome you all to the first annual Master's Festival!"

Most of the Pokemon in the room cheered or howled in approval, Rose included. I stayed silent, but did smile excitedly. Samurott bowed his head in appreciation, waiting until his audience quieted down to continue. "I am happy that everyone is so excited about the festival. It warms my heart to see that the IAET's efforts have come to a resounding success so far. For that, I thank you all."

He turned to the elderly Tropius, who smiled at us. "I would also like to extend my thanks to Elder Tropius, who presides and watches over the Marine Resort. He and the rest of the residents here have graciously offered to host the festival here, and without them it wouldn't have been possible."

Another resounding cheer of approval came from the gathered teams, and Samurott stepped back, letting his snake companion take his place. Striking yellow eyes quickly scanned the room, looking for something. Or maybe someone, I didn't know. Clearing her throat, she slithered forward a bit and started to address us.

"My name is Serperior, one of Samurott's partners in Team Explorers. Now, I know that everyone is probably excited to start exploring the festival area-" She spoke far quietly, and was drowned out by yet another cheer. Samurott and Serperior's other friend slammed a bulky fist into the ground to shut us up, startling most and causing the more timid Pokemon to yelp out in surprise. Serperior nodded at her companion. "Thank you, Emboar. As I was saying," She began again. "You all are obviously excited, but there are a few rules that need to be understood before we allow you to roam freely. Is everyone paying attention?"

Rose and I, along with a medley of other voices, replied with a simple "yes, ma'am," although there were a few mutterings of disdain here and there. From the right side of the room, a gruff voice, whose owner I couldn't see, blurted out "Chaw-haw-haw! Who do you think we are, little kids?"

Rose and I turned to each other in mutual shock, our eyes wide with the same thought. That laugh was unmistakable… but how in the name of Arceus did Skuntank and the rest of Team Skull escape from the Brine Cave? Or get an invitation to this festival, for that matter? Serperior's eyes narrowed at the rude interruption, and she raised herself to her full height.

"Good sir, look around you," She made a sweeping gesture with her tiny leafy hands, appendages stretching as far as they could. "Notice that there are, in fact, a great deal many kids in the room."

I couldn't help but smirk. Long as it might have been since Skull had antagonized either Rose or I, I still couldn't really forgive them for the stunts they had pulled on us before. Was it childish of me? Maybe. "Whether or not the attendees are children or adults, I would still explain the rules. Your comment only proves my point. Now, I'll continue."

She thought for a moment, then spoke again. "First! Please, keep the battling to a minimum. You're not at your home, or your base, or wherever you live. There is a dojo set up where you may battle each other to your heart's content, but outside of there, it will not be tolerated."

"Second," Serperior turned to take a quick look at the Samurott, Emboar, and Tropius before continuing. I could have sworn I saw Samurott give her a reassuring smile. "Second, please try and be courteous to everybody you may meet. This includes not interrupting them," She eyed the right side of the room accusingly before smiling and recomposing herself, her tone more jovial.

"Before you all leave, one more thing. The western pathway leads into a mountain. The inside of the mountain is where all of the visitors will be sleeping, if they wish to sleep at all. Now, thank you for your time and patience," The crowd as a whole seemed to be on the edge of their seats. "And please, enjoy the festival!"

A unanimous uproar of approval shook the meeting hall as literal hordes of Pokemon began to exit the building. I looked over at Rose, who was grinning brightly, any traces of worry clear from her eyes, and I wrapped my arm around her to pull her into a half-hug, our treasure bag sliding around my neck from the momentum.

"And at first you didn't think coming here would be a good idea," I teased, and she leaned into my hold, chuckling.

"Alright, so I _was_ worrying a little too much," She admitted, and I lightly ruffled her headfur. "It's all so different, though! I've never seen anything like this place!"

"Neither have I," I said. "But…"

"But what? Don't tell me that you're being the worrier now?"

Rose licked my cheek, and I let out a bark of laughter at her joke. "No, it's not that. But you heard it too, didn't you?"

The Ninetales' gaze turned serious. "Oh. That."

The short, sweet response was all the confirmation I needed. "We haven't even heard a peep from Team Skull since we went to the Brine Cave, right? Or at least I haven't."

Rose nodded. "No, I haven't either. How were they able to get out? Do you think they got rescued by another exploration team?"

"Never mind that, how did they even manage to get an invitation to the festival?" I rubbed at my chin thoughtfully. "Maybe they stole it?"

Rose sighed and glanced up at the ceiling of the hall. "Who knows…" I gave her a quick squeeze before breaking our hug.

"Well, whatever. We can talk about it later," Rose rebounded back to her more cheerful self. "Maybe we'll even meet up with them. Right now, let's just plan what we're going to do!"

"What?" I questioned. "But… there's so much here _to_ do!"

Rose and I hopped off of our seats, and I noticed a large pile of folded papers on the ground, the ones that the two Snivy children had been sorting before. Picking one up, I unfolded it. What luck! "Hey, Rose, look at this! It's a map of the festival!"

"No way! How did we miss getting one if they're all strewn about the floor like this?"

"Those two kids we met before were sorting these. Maybe they were supposed to hand them out and forgot?"

"Maybe. Let's give it a look," She peered over my shoulder as I read over the map of the area. The east was home to the fighting dojo Serperior had mentioned, along with a path leading to a beach. The west's pathway through the mountain of visitor rooms lead into a set of hot springs. And in between the two were the many buildings and tents that made up the plaza. Looking at Rose, I ruffled her headfur again and smiled.

"How about you pick what we do first?" I said. Rose pondered her options for a moment before nodding, placing her paw on the drawing of the mountain rooms.

"Let's go drop off our stuff first, and then let's go to the hot springs," She stretched and let out a yawn before starting to walk off, taking the lead. The scent of her Pecha Scarf wafted into my nose, and I took a deep breath.

"Somehow, I knew you were going to say that," I shook my head and smiled as I followed her into the beautiful day outside. The festival had begun!

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Apologies for the large amount of exposition in this chapter - I had to introduce the setting, otherwise I don't think the story would have been as good.**

**Also, before anybody points it out, yes, Tropius can't be found naturally in the Marine Resort ingame.  
><strong>


	2. Discovery

The festival bustled with activity as Rose and I weaved a path through the plaza, the ambient chattering of visitors and our clattering footsteps on the stone paths blending seamlessly into white noise. The sun shone brightly down, suspended in a cloudless sky, the beams of light dancing off of the water that flowed in the central fountain, as well as the rivers carving their path under bridges towards the ocean. The yellow fur surrounding my chest-spike rustled as a light breeze blew through, and I shivered slightly from the chill. The weather wasn't particularly cold, but it wasn't warm, either – the perfect in-between, the type you'd see during early spring or autumn. Rose suddenly did a little twirl, causing all the Pokemon around her to move to avoid her whirling tails, myself included.

"Ahh…" She breathed in the sweet scent of her Pecha Scarf, and I stepped forward to keep pace next to her, giving an apologetic look to the ones she nearly struck with her spin.

"What's up, Rose," I asked. "Do I have to remind you again that you didn't want to come here at first?"

She swatted at me with a stray tail. "Oh, shush up."

I chuckled unabashedly. "C'mon, let's get going. And don't do any more impromptu spins, you'll knock everybody over."

We made our way past the fighting dojo and over the eastern bridge leading to the mountain, and I inwardly sighed in relief as the picket-fenced path became far less crowded. Outside of a couple exploration teams and a young Vaporeon digging up a patch of dirt on the trail, the place was quiet and empty. Rose began to walk slower, taking in the sight of the forest, and I did the same. I had already seen most of the forest on the walk to the plaza, but I didn't object to doing it again.

"What is it with you and hot springs, anyway?" I struck up another topic as Rose turned to look at me with a confused look on her face.

"That was out of nowhere. Why do you ask?"

"Well, uh… there's some things I still don't know about you?" My answer was weak as I gestured aimlessly with my paws. I was telling the truth, there were things that Rose hadn't talked to me about, although I did admit that it was rather abrupt to bring it up now.

"Who's embarrassed now, huh?" She laughed, and I folded my arms in a huff. She edged closer to me and wrapped a tail around my midsection. "Relax, I'm just playing."

Before I could respond, she suddenly launched forward, letting out a loud yelp as she flew into the patch of dirt that the Vaporeon had been digging. I swiveled around to see a Weezing looking at me with a sheepish frown, and my nose twitched as a rotten stench filled my senses.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry," He floated his way to Rose, who was still somewhat out-of-it as she lay in the, to my slight horror, mud-puddle. The Vaporeon batted at the Ninetales' nose as I strode over, lifted up my partner, and placed her on drier ground, cringing as I looked at both her and my arms, which were now a muddy mess. Rose picked herself up and I turned to stare meanly at the offending Pokemon, who hovered erratically, becoming a purple blur in panic.

"Hey, hey! I didn't mean to do that," He spewed out a nearly-unintelligible apology. "I guess I wasn't looking where I was going, I'm sorry, please don't hurt me!"

I felt aura make its way to the spikes jutting out of my paws, ready to form into a sphere at a moment's notice, but before I could send the poison-type packing, a bushel of nine cream-and-brown tails moved in front of me.

"Sir, it's fine. You didn't mean it and I forgive you," Rose said quietly, and I was amazed that she was keeping her composure. She turned to me. "And Bill, stop it. Let's just go."

My jaw dropped. "Wha… but he…"

"Bill," She moved very close, voice dropping to a whisper. "Stop. Forget it. We can't fight outside of the dojo, remember?"

I stared at her, slowly processing the information before I shot the Weezing another angry glare. It didn't matter, he was already floating away, probably wanting to get as far away from my angered friend as possible. A strange sound came from nowhere, a cross between a cackle and a worried cry, and I shook my head.

"It takes all kinds, I guess," I muttered. The Vaporeon gave us a pitying look and walked over. Rose and I looked at him as he turned away in hesitation.

"I'm sorry about that, you two," He began. "I thought that I'd be out of the way enough."

Rose nodded in agreement, and I sighed, tension lessening as I let my posture slack. The Vaporeon continued to address us. "I'm not sure what I can do, but maybe I could use a weak water attack to wash you off?"

I raised my eyebrow and glanced at Rose, who seemed to be seriously contemplating the offer. "What exactly were you doing before, mister... uh?"

"Just Vaporeon. I'm the only Vaporeon here, since water stones are so difficult to come across around here," The blue quadruped looked around nervously before leaning in. "Don't tell anybody, but not quite all of the construction is done around here. The sides of this particular path are unstable, so I'm digging up the ground so that fences can be set in."

He gestured behind us, and I did notice that the fences had tapered off a few feet away from where we were standing. "Isn't that dangerous, though?"

"Yep. More than enough of the construction was completed for the festival to go on, but there are still some things that aren't done yet. Technically I'm supposed to be helping out elsewhere, but… ah…" He trailed off, leaving me hanging.

"Ah, what?" I asked, hoping he'd continue.

He didn't, ruffling his collar fin before speaking again. "It's nothing. What about you two? Who are you?"

I felt an itch behind my ear and scratched it. "I'm Bill, and this is my partner, Rose. We're an exploration team here for the festival."

Vaporeon's eyes widened, his voice filling with excitement. "No way! A real exploration team?"

Rose blinked. "Yeah, we're Team Returners, from Treasure Town's Wigglytuff Guild. What about it?"

"I've never met a real exploration team before…" He began to circle around us, ogling us in awe. "Wow… you look cool!"

I stood a little straighter. "Well, uh…"

"No, really! You look so strong, and you're both so tall… and… and you've got a real treasure bag," He poked at the leather rucksack with his nose. "And oh my gosh this is so _cool_!"

Rose coughed loudly, motioning towards her tails, and Vaporeon turned to her. "Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. Let me help you." Stepping behind her, Vaporeon began to spray a mild jet of water on Rose's tails. I looked at her, unsurprised at the stone-faced gaze she gave back. I knelt down, rubbing behind one of her ears, hoping to get a purr out. It didn't work, so I hugged her loosely as I mentally scrambled to think of something else.

"Rose, are you sure you still want to go to the hot springs after this? We could just head to the room and rest, if you wanted." I said, stroking her neck affectionately. Vaporeon perked up before Rose could give me an answer. It seemed like we were getting interrupted a lot today.

"Did you say the hot springs?" Rose and I both stared at him. "Er, uh… heh, that's where I'm supposed to be helping out. _You_," He gestured towards me with his nose. "…Would probably have an easier time cleaning these tails, since you're a bipedal Pokemon. I'm sure that the spring isn't very full right now, since it's early morning."

"Isn't very full…?" Rose thought aloud. "How big are these hot springs, anyway?"

Vaporeon gave us both a knowing wink before leaping over one of the fences and waving his tail, motioning for us to follow. "This way, it's a shortcut."

I looked at Rose hesitantly, but she replied with a silent, confident nod, and she began to walk forward, her tails drooping low due to a combination of mud and waterlogging. I would have laughed if it weren't such a touchy issue.

Surprisingly, Vaporeon's shortcut really was a shortcut, and after blazing a short trail through the trees, vines and various other bits of stray foliage, we found ourselves behind a small wooden building, plumes of steam rising as if from nowhere. A pair of open barrels was the only occupants of the back wall, and I took a strong whiff of their contents, snorting as a powerful burning sensation wracked my sinuses. I winced in pain as the bizarre feeling passed, my eyes leaking a couple tears, and I couldn't help but let out a "whoo!" of surprise.

"Ugh," I grunted, futilely rubbing at my nose to make it go back to normal. "What do you put in these springs? Eeesh!"

Rose eyed me curiously as she padded over and stuck her head into the barrel. "What are you talking about, Bill? I can't sense anythi… whoo!"

Her eyes widened as her head shot out of the barrel. Vaporeon chuckled softly as he watched Rose go through the same motions I had, and he wagged his fin-like tail jovially. "Ah, you both have gotten a dose of the salts we put in the spring."

"Salts?"

"Yeah," He rolled his eyes. "Sorry, you've probably never heard of them. They're these neat little things that make the springs feel nicer, or you can use them as really strong smelling-salts. Originally they were made from this really rare rock in the mines underneath the island and a buncha' other stuff… or something like that."

Rose perked up. "Did you say a rare rock?" She wanted to go look for it, I could tell.

Her hopes were dashed, however, as Vaporeon shook his head. "Don't bother. A couple years ago Elder Tropius figured out a way to create salts using normal stones and a combination of different attacks. A quick polish, one shot of a water gun… um, I don't remember the rest."

"How do you know so much about the island anyway?" I asked, toying with one of the tassels behind my head.

"Well, I live here, of course," He said.

"Oh, uh…"

He laughed at me. "It's fine, I thought you might have assumed I was part of the guys who set up the festival. My dad used to be a miner here, he let me play outside of the tunnels before they were abandoned."

"Your dad," I muttered. "I assume he's the one who told you about this rare rock and everything?"

"Yes, he did. Before he retired due to a mining injury, he told me lots of stories about the stuff they found in the mines. He also told me lots about the noble things exploration teams did," At the mention of exploration teams, he was giddy. He must have thought that the IAET was some kind of league of heroes. "Then he got injured, and he passed away just last month..."

As his tone turned wistful at the end of his sentence, I immediately regretted pushing the subject. "Oh… Um, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

He waved his tail at me in response. "It's fine, it's fine. Don't worry, he went peacefully in his sleep. I don't mind talking about it, my dad wouldn't want me to mope. C'mon, let's get you two into the springs!"

He quickly scampered behind me and began to nudge me forward, marching both Rose and I into the building. It was actually quite empty; other than a small table and a shelf built into one of the walls, it was a barren room. Rose and I padded in, gazing mindlessly about the open space, and Vaporeon parted from us, peeking his head outside a small sheet that acted as the entryway. He scampered back a few seconds later, a happy smile on his face.

"The spring's totally free right now, so you can clean up to your heart's content," He said. "C'mon, come outside and look!"

He gently bit my paw and started tugging me towards the still white fabric, and I shook him off as non-violently as I could, which thankfully made him let go. He dashed outside and I heard him yell before a loud blast of water and an even louder hiss of steam practically exploded from the direction of the door. Rose's posture turned far more relaxed as she walked outside, and I swiftly followed her after hearing a loud splash and a yelp from Vaporeon. Before I could figure out what was going on, I slipped on a damp rock and fell face-first into the spring.

I immediately surfaced, gasping in pain as the scalding liquid soaked into my fur, my eyes scrunched closed and my tension rising rapidly. I flailed about, rubbing at my muzzle, chest and arms furiously before having a torrent of freezing water fall on me, courtesy of a worried purple aura that I assumed was Vaporeon. Just as quickly as I was burning, I was now shivering uncontrollably, the fluctuating hot-and-cold clashing negatively. Letting my eyelids slip open, I saw Rose wading over from a deeper spot, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Bill," She stared at me intently. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah… I'm fine." I nodded, trying to hide my set of chattering teeth. Finding a foothold, she licked my cheek affectionately and I gingerly stroked the side of her head, netting me a loving purr in the process. We held each other for a few brief moments before letting go, and she giggled.

"Close your eyes," She said, and I did so just in time as she playfully dunked me. As I resurfaced, my body's temperature started to balance itself out, and I glanced toward Vaporeon, who was standing near the entrance to the spring.

"Sniffing unknown barrels and tripping into pools," He chuckled. "You sure you're really an exploration team?"

I flushed "I'm not normally this clumsy!"

"Relax, I'm just messin' with ya." And with that, he left us, tail swishing behind him.

Rose and I spent our time splashing, playing, and relaxing in the wonderfully warm water. It really was a beautiful area, almost looking like it was separated from the rest of the world. The forest surrounded the entire pool, which filled the entire basin of a broken, hollow slab of granite. Natural steps and seats jutted out from the sides of the spring, and large, pointed spires rose to form a wall of stone that was short enough to let the flora through, yet tall enough to keep outsiders… well, out. Rose leaned against the side of the pool as we rested, and I swirled a paw through the water.

"Well…" I began, breaking our silence. "Are you enjoying yourself so far?"

She nodded lazily, her eyes closed in blissful contentment. "It's been so long since I've been in a hot spring. Even though there's a hot spring just a short walk away from Treasure Town!"

I laughed, staring up at the bits of sky that could be seen through the trees. "That's because you love to work so much."

"It's not my fault I love adventuring," She replied after a beat, opening a single ruby-red eye to look at me. "Besides, we have fun exploring, right? I'm glad we're able to make a living doing something we enjoy."

Nodding, I wrapped her into a quick hug, her head resting against my neck as the ponytail that adorned her forehead drooped over her eye. "Yeah, you're right, but it's still good to take a break once in a while."

She didn't say anything in response, only breathing softly. I glanced at her to find that she had begun to snooze in my arms, the effects of the warm water, relaxing atmosphere and comfortable pillow converging together. I smiled and brushed her headfur away from her face, leaning backward and letting the spring work its magic. Soon enough I dozed off as well.

I'm not sure how long we both slept. When I woke up, Rose was still asleep in my arms, licking her chops. She must have been dreaming about food. My first instinct was to look up to check the sun's position. That didn't work, however, because of the canopy of the surrounding forest, and I gave up trying to figure out what time it was. Letting my arms splay out, Rose shifting slightly to adjust to her newfound freedom, I shut my eyes and tried my hardest to fall back to sleep, but my efforts were useless, _something_ keeping me from my rest. My eyes jutted open narrowly, senses twitching as a faint, disgusting smell rode in on the wind. It seemed familiar somehow…

"Yuck," I said plainly, and I put a paw to my mouth as Rose began to stir. As she groggily rolled off of me and flicked her eyes awake, I gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you."

"Yuck?" She mumbled, still half-asleep. "We're eating a feast and you say _yuck_?"

I pinched the fur above my nose. "You were dreaming. Something smells weird. Not me or you, it's coming from somewhere else."

Before Rose said anything else, she dunked her head under the water and came back up, deliberately shaking her head near me to get me wet. "Never mind that, I would have woken up anyway. Listen!"

I put a paw to my ear and did as she asked, hearing loud footsteps coming from inside the building. I abruptly shut my eyes and focused my aura on my sight, two yellow shapes coming into view behind the wall. One of them, a small, four-legged thing, was obviously Vaporeon, but the other, a taller figure that stood on two legs, was new. Rose left me, paddling over to the door in anticipation, and I opened my eyes and trailed after her. Vaporeon stepped outside first, his companion not following.

"Hey, Vaporeon," I called out. "Who's there with ya?"

"Oh, you know she's here? She told me she's 'preparing' for the bath, whatever that means." He seemed to be oddly embarrassed, and began to sniffle, face wrinkling. "What's that smell?"

"You noticed it too?" I said, frowning. "It's not Rose, and it's not me, either. I think it's something just around the area."

"Hmmm…" Vaporeon's expression turned worried. "I'll take a look around."

As he trotted away, a pair of cream-colored feet appeared next to him "Go on in, miss."

Rose's eyes widened, mouth dropping, and I blinked in surprise. Out of the building stepped a modestly tall, brown-furred bunny, with long floppy ears, a curvaceous body, and a big smile on her face. As she stepped into the water, a tiny sigh escaped her lips, and she suddenly bounced about ten feet into the air and cannonballed into the spring, thoroughly soaking Rose and I for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day. As she surfaced, moisture slid off her ears as if they were made of rubber, and she looked at the two of us.

"Oh, hello there," Lopunny said, her voice bright and cheery. "I didn't realize that there were other Pokemon here."

Rose shook her head, her jaw snapping shut. "L-Lopunny? No way… it's really you!"

The bunny laughed. "That's me, Lopunny of Team Charm!" She winked, doing a little twirl and struck a pose, one arm out to her side while the other rested on her hip.

Rose smiled, moving towards her idol with a growing grin. "Awesome! It's been so long since we've last seen each other!"

At that, Lopunny's face turned thoughtful, her smile diminishing a little, and she broke her pose, putting a paw on her chin. "We've met before? Hm… I'm sorry, I don't remember you."

Rose flinched comically, and I waded forward. "You came to Treasure Town about a year or so ago, asking our guildmaster for his key to some ruins."

She rubbed her chin, still thinking. "Mmm... that does sound familiar…"

I sighed. "You, Gardevoir, Medicham, and us two fought against Regigigas together?"

Lopunny snapped her fingers, smile returning, and she sharply tugged Rose and I into a suffocating hug. "Oh oh oh, I remember now! Yeah, you're Bill and Rose, those two little kids from Wigglytuff's guild!"

I coughed, squirming a bit. "Y-yeah… although back then we weren't evolved yet."

Rose nodded in agreement. "I was only a Vulpix, and Bill was only a Riolu. I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised that you didn't recognize us."

"Yeah, I remember that! That was fun!" Letting us go, Lopunny folded her arms and rocked in place on her heels, while Rose and I breathed heavily, attempting to assuage our poor throats. The brown bunny giggled, hopping backwards and floating herself in the shallows. Rose followed, a giddy, goofy smile on her face, and Lopunny tilted her head forward to peer at us. "So, how have you two been?"

I folded my arms, looking downward at the clear liquid, and tried to clear my mind. "Rose and I have been alright. Work has been pretty slow, but it's nice to relax."

Rose nodded. "Yeah, not much had been going on before we both decided to come here." She waded over to a small rock and seated herself on it, a few paces away from Lopunny. I followed, plopping down next to Rose and loosely ruffling her headfur. "What about you? Where's Gardevoir and Medicham? They always seem to be stuck to you like glue."

Lopunny did a feeble backstroke, swimming very slowly, and made a lap around the spring before answering. "Oh, they didn't come to the festival with me."

"What? Why not?" Rose asked, disappointment dripping from her voice. I closed my eyes and dipped my head. I felt bad, now – I had convinced Rose to come to the festival with the thought of Team Charm showing up, and now we found out that only their leader was here. While it was good that at least Lopunny had come, a small pang of guilt hit me anyway. Was it really the right thing to do? Should I apologize to Rose? I shook the thoughts from my head as Lopunny began to talk again.

"Well, Gardevoir decided to visit her family, since it's been a while since she'd seen them," Lopunny began to point her pawpads, listing off her two team members. "Aaaaand Medicham opted to watch our base while both of us are gone. She likes meditating when we're both gone, so I don't think she minds not getting a vacation too much."

"So you're just by yourself?"

"Yep, just me, myself and I," Lopunny replied, sitting down next to Rose and wrapping her arms behind her head. "You two have grown up quite a bit since I last saw you, though! You've evolved and everything! C'mon, tell me about everything you did after you adventured with us!" She was extremely eager, as she always seemed to be, and soon the two were chattering away, Rose filling her in on the battle against Darkrai and our adventures beyond. Satisfied that they would be able to occupy themselves for the time being, I sat down on Rose's other side and began to think again, breathing quietly. The wind began to blow again, tiny waves splishing against the rock wall of the spring.

"Yuck," I whispered, nearly inaudibly, as the strange smell from before appeared again, and I slipped off of the rock and carefully squatted until my head sunk, holding my breath for a few seconds before exhaling in a rush of bubbles and straightening up. Gazing at the forest that stood outside of the spring, a weird feeling of déjà vu came over me, the smell still coming in with the breeze. When was the last time I had smelled this smell…? The answer came to me after a brief pause; it was the same gassy stench that the Weezing that crashed into Rose earlier gave off. No, that wasn't it… what could it be?

"Bill!"

Rose's voice broke me away from my zoning-out, and I turned around, accidentally hitting something with my tail. "Whu?"

"Oooch… you sure know how to wind a Pokemon, huh?" Where I had just been staring obliviously, Lopunny held her stomach, trying to get air back into her lungs after my tail had clocked her around the head, though she smiled playfully. Rose stood in front of me, laughing merrily at my jolt. I didn't try to hide my blush, since it wouldn't be visible under my fur. One of the perks of being a Pokemon.

"Ooh, I'm frustrated," Lopunny said, out of the blue. Rose tilted her head in concern.

"Why?"

"It's just the fact that they're holding the festival at the Marine Resort! Haven't you heard the stories surrounding this place?"

Rose's eyes gained a curious sparkle, and I half-closed my eyes. "Guildmaster Wigglytuff told us a little about it, but no, we haven't really heard any stories about the Marine Resort."

Lopunny grabbed my arm and Rose's paw and dragged us over to her, setting us down. "Well, there's lots! Have you heard about the mines?"

I sighed and massaged my arm after it was freed from the bunny's firm grip. "Yeah. Vaporeon said that his father used to work in them before they were abandoned."

Lopunny stretched, cricking her back and neck before continuing. "Mm-hm. The mines used to be where the rock that makes bath salts was dug up. It was really valuable since this is the only place for miles where bath salts are made, so it was the main thing that got bought by Pokemon visiting."

"Vaporeon mentioned that too," Rose piped up. "He said that they haven't used the rare rock from the mines ever since Elder Tropius figured out a way to make bath salts from normal stones."

"That's part of the story. The mines were abandoned without warning, and the amount of salts that got exported to other towns began to get smaller and smaller. Without mister Tropius, the Marine Resort's economy might have been as good as gone!"

"Wait," I was confused. "As good as gone? Why? Couldn't they have just gone in and mined more rocks? What was the reason for abandoning the mine in the first place?"

"Well," Lopunny leaned in mysteriously. "It all has to do with time going out of whack two or three years ago. I'm sure you both remember that, right?"

Rose and I gave each other a glance of mutual unease. "Yeah… yeah, of course we remember it." I said, and Rose slowly nodded in agreement. Of course we'd remember, we were sort of at the center of it!

"Well, you both remember how the problem with time was what caused a bunch of mystery dungeons to spring up all across the continent, right? Well, it's rumored that a mystery dungeon cropped up deep in the tunnels, and a bunch of miners got lost!"

My mind processed the new information, and Rose gasped. "No… that's horrible!"

"It would make sense," I said, adding in my initial thoughts. "If they had no idea about the dungeon, then they wouldn't prepare for it, and by the time they realized that they were lost, it'd be too late. What a terrible thing to happen…"

"Once word got out that the miners were trapped, a whole bunch of exploration teams went and rescued them, but mister Tropius banned anyone from exploring the mines afterward, to make sure that something like that never happened again. That's why he put time into figuring out a new way to make bath salts – so that they could continue selling them without having to risk the lives of his Pokemon." Lopunny finished speaking, gulping down a long breath.

"He must care deeply about everybody here if he went that far," I remarked.

"I'd think so," Lopunny said. "The thing is, there's an old legend about the caves in that they have some treasure hidden in them, something really rare and valuable. Most believe that it's the stone that bath salts are made from, since 'real' bath salts are really rare and valuable nowadays…" She put two and two together.

"They're valuable? How valuable?" Rose perked up.

"Oh, a fortune, at least," Lopunny said sharply. "They're as hard-to-find as any other mystery dungeon treasure! You could probably live off of the money it would bring in for a few years!"

Rose coughed, surprised. "No wonder you're frustrated, you want to go try and find some, don't you?"

Lopunny nodded vigorously, still smiling despite the rather-morbid topic we had just talked about. "Of course! Team Charm never gives up on a treasure, but it's so hard to resist trying to go after some of that bath salt stone! I mean, the mines are just north of these springs… it's so close, I can barely stand it!"

I let out a low whistle, which led into a rather tense, awkward silence, only augmented by the chirpy speech of whatever native flying-types were nestling high in the trees. I dunked myself once more into the spring, letting the heat soak into my fur and trying to relax as best I could. The wind began to blow once more, and yet again the strange, unwelcome stink made its way into my flaring nostrils. Irritated long enough, I half lost it.

"For Arceus-sake, what the hell is that stench?" I yelled angrily, scaring the aforementioned native flying-types away, and shooting out of the water, claws bared. "I thought Vaporeon was going to take a look around to try and find where it was coming from!"

Without warning, a large, fuzzy purple thing crashed into me, knocking me into the spring and engulfing my would-be-gasp with water, some of which I swallowed. The 'thing' scrambled around on top of me in a panic, and I pushed both of my feet straight out in front, launching it off of me. I surfaced, hacking as I tried to spit out the water I had forcibly drank, and looked at my attacker.

It was a purple skunk, big and intimidating, with a bulbous Weezing and a short-winged Golbat splashing next to him from the same place he came from. My eyes narrowed dangerously as I recognized them, and Rose and Lopunny flanked my own side in response. "Skuntank… Team Skull! What are you doing here?"

Neither Weezing nor Golbat answered, both preoccupied with trying to breath again to answer me, and Skuntank's tail bristled at the sound of my voice. "Chaw… haw… haw-ck," The poison-type coughed. "Didn't think I'd be seeing your faces again, Team Returners!"

"Shove it, prick," I said, deliberately acting rudely. In hindsight it was a bad idea. "Answer me: What the hell are you and your goons doing here?"

"What do you think, stupid?" Golbat's mean voice cut in. "We got an invitation because we're a Master-ranked team!"

Rose's eyes boggled out of their sockets. "You? Master-ranked?"

"Yeh…" Weezing interrupted. "Don't hurt me!"

Skuntank glared at his floating cohort before addressing us again. "Ahem. Yes, we're Master-ranked, and that's why we got invited. Isn't that how you were able to come here?"

I growled, but didn't give him the pleasure of a response. Lopunny simply cocked her head. "Um… who are you three?"

Skuntank eyed Lopunny strangely, and he began to speak again, false charisma melting off of every word. "Well, hello there, miss. My two partners and I," He gestured towards Weezing and Golbat, who tried to act presentable. "…are Team Skull, a professional Master-ranked exploration team!"

"Oh," She responded, her smile half-gone and a confused look adorning her face. "Um… it's good to meet you."

Skuntank bowed low (or made a motion that resembled a bow). "The pleasure is all ours. And who might you be?"

Lopunny's entire persona changed to a far more confident one, her smile returning as she did a twirl, striking her pose from earlier, paw outstretched. "I'm Lopunny, the leader of Team Charm!"

Skuntank recoiled in surprise, and his two cronies' jaws dropped in shock. "T-Team Charm! _The_ Team Charm!"

"That's right," She said, doing one more twirl. "And don't you forget it!"

Team Skull gawked for what seemed like minutes, too stunned to say anything. I was surprised – Skull didn't seem like fans of any exploration team other than themselves, much less fans of Charm. When they regained their composure, Skuntank ruffled his fur and glared his beady eyes at her.

"Hmph! Well, whatever! My team and I will be leaving now. Excuse us," He snarled and began to stomp forward (as best he could stomp in water). I growled again and didn't move as he bumped into my legs.

"Don't get sidetracked, Skuntank. You forgot to answer my question," I said. He narrowed his eyes, but didn't make any sudden moves.

"And what question was that, eh?"

"I asked you… what the hell are you doing here?"

The skunk guffawed. "Chaw-haw-haw! We answered that already! Are ya deaf, or just stupid?"

I knew they were egging me on. As anger clouded my mind, I took the bait. "Alright, then, _asshole_, let me rephrase: What the hell are you doing here, coming out of nowhere and crashing into the hot spring?"

Weezing rotated around in the air. "And why do you wanna know? Isn't this supposed to be a place for Pokemon to quietly relax?"

I whirled around, fists raised. "I wasn't talking to you."

"Bill, you're letting them get to your head," Rose's scolding voice cut through the tension like water through a sand castle. "Calm down!"

"Why?" I shot back, folding my arms. "They don't deserve politeness. You know that better than anyone, you're one of their victims!"

"I know that you don't like them, but-"

"Oh, and you do? Are you fond of Team Skull, even though they stole your precious Relic Fragment twice and screwed us over in the Apple Woods?"

Rose puffed up defensively. "I know that you don't like them, but think for a second!"

"About what? Tell me, what should I think about? Oh, I know, I'll think about how Team Skull isn't answering my Arceus-damn _question_!"

Rose's eyes were blazing with fury as she screamed at me. "You, me, and Skull aren't the only ones here! You're acting horribly in front of Lopunny and I'm sure she doesn't appreciate all this!"

I opened my jaw to speak again, but the simple logic cleared away some of the fog of war, and I couldn't think of a good enough response. Frustrated, I launched a punch at one of the stone seats in the spring and winced as my claws screeched against the rock floor. Cradling my paw, I stared down at the water, not wanting to look at my ashamed partner, or Lopunny, who was probably put off from my outburst. The world turned orange as the rays of sunset bathed the place in twilight, the clashing visual ambiance only serving to highlight my inappropriate behavior even more. Skuntank seemed pleased by all this, shimmying to get rid of excess water before speaking again.

"Well, I think it would be best if we left now. See you later," He said cheerily, and he waded out of the pool and left. His two partners turned to us.

"Yeah, we'll leave you alone, whoa-ho-ho! Hope I don't see ya a third time!" Weezing floated away, his words finally making me perk my head up to look at him.

"Mmph…but Weezing, I thought we weren't gonna be going into mystery dungeons… I thought this was supposed to be a vacation…" Golbat obliviously flapped away. The silence now was even more awkward then before, and I continued to not look at Rose or Lopunny.

"Hey, wait!"

I turned around at the voice to see Vaporeon, scrabbling atop the stone wall of the spring, shooting a jet of water at the fleeing Pokemon, and he leapt down next to me. "You're not gonna get away!"

"Hang on, Vaporeon," I said, reaching out and grabbing the top of his coller fin. "What's going on?" Lopunny and Rose walked up to him, and I glanced into Rose's eyes; she didn't seem to be dwelling on my outburst anymore. I hoped she wasn't.

"Why didn't you stop them? Don't you know what they're going to do?" Vaporeon was practically screaming. It seemed like a lot of that was going on today. "Aren't you an exploration team? They're up to no good!"

I was instantly on the alert. Lopunny was more sympathetic, wrapping the Eeveelution into a warm hug. "Oh, you poor thing…"

Rose stood next to me and shook her headfur behind her ears. "What happened?"

Vaporeon sniffed a bit, sneezed, and then spoke again. "It… it was them that were making that weird smell from before. Remember when I said I'd take a walk to see what it was?"

I nodded slowly. "Mm-hm. It had been there for almost the whole day."

"That's right. Well, I went and walked around the spring first, but there wasn't anything there, so I came back. A little later, I smelled it again, so I looked around, and those three were there, so I hid nearby."

Lopunny unraveled herself and sat down, patting the water type on the head. "What did they say?"

"They were talking about a lot of things… hang on, let's get out of the spring and I'll start off from the beginning…"

* * *

><p>Vaporeon trotted his way through the forest, sidling up next to the wall of granite that kept the hot spring from flooding. His muzzle wiggled as the strange, unpleasant stink seemed to fill every open space, and he took a deep breath, continuing forward as long as he could without taking a breath.<p>

"Haaaah… what could be causing this?" He wondered aloud as he exhaled, blinking as one of his ears twitched. A strange, quiet sound came from up above, and, naturally, Vaporeon looked to the sky to see what it was. "Wha?"

He was greeted by two shapes. One was a purple sphere that blew gas from spots all over its body, using the gas to continue hovering in place. The other was a blue bat, with tiny, near-non-existent feet and broad, flapping wings. The two of them leaned in, seemingly in anticipation, and so did Vaporeon.

"Weezing, Golbat - hear anything, you two?" A gruff, scratchy voice called out, and Vaporeon jumped. The one that had startled him was a purple skunk, not ten paces away from him, and to avoid being seen he immediately snuck into the bushes behind the intruders. Weezing turned around.

"They're talking about some mines, boss," He responded, his largest head speaking for them all. "Apparently they used to dig up little white rocks called bath salts in 'em."

"Bath salts?" The dark-poison-type pounded the dirt with his left front paw. "What are bath salts? Are they valuable?"

Weezing turned back around, waiting for a few minutes, then answered. "Whoa-ho-ho! Sounds like it! The mines have apparently been untouched for years, and salts from those tunnels are worth a fortune!"

Golbat flapped his way back to his leader, twisting and turning as he did so. "Yeh, I'm surprised you don't know about bath salts, Skuntank! Lots of Pokemon buy 'em."

Vaporeon's eyes flicked back and forth as he watched the trio babble on, and his mind raced. "They have to be a visiting exploration team, I've never seen anyone like them living here before… but why are they so interested in the mines? They probably make more money from their job than they would from selling bath salts…"

Skuntank tilted his head, his tail waving high in the air. "Oh, and you do know about them? What's so great about 'em?"

"Lots of things," Golbat said promptly, despite his jaw not moving from its wide-open position. "They can be put in baths to make it feel different, or you can use them to wake someone up from fainting, or… uh… I don't remember."

"Really…" Skuntank was intrigued, or at least he sounded intrigued. "And where did you hear about bath salts? The last populated place we went to was Treasure Town, and that was when we took that Vulpix-but-now-a-Ninetales girl and that Riolu-but-now-a-Lucario's special stone thing, remember?"

"Yeh, I remember. That was where I saw some. A tiny box of them was for sale at that shop run by the green-and-purple dudes, with a label that described what they were."

"How much did they cost?" Skuntank's voice took on a suspiciously excited tone.

"Um… ten-thousand-or-so Poke… I think."

"Chaw-haw-ha-what!" Skuntank raised his head in surprise. "No way! Tailing those two goody-goodies and that blue kid paid off after all!"

Golbat flapped his wings harder, trying his best to nod despite his awkward anatomy. Vaporeon continued to watch as they talked, but his thoughts were entirely elsewhere. "They were following me? But who else are they… are they talking about Bill and Rose?" His eyes widened. "Are they… _eavesdropping_ on them? But… but _why_? I thought exploration teams were supposed to be…"

Weezing floated down from his spot near the spring, puffs of gas spouting from his three heads. "The other person they're talkin' to said that the mines are north of here. Um… I guess that's important, boss?"

"Chaw-haw-haw!" Skuntank's laugh was grating, and Vaporeon winced. "Yes, that's excellent! Now we know what to look for and where to find 'em. Let's go find these mines right now! Team Skull is on the job, chaw-haw-haw!"

Vaporeon stood still as he witnessed the terrible trio share a long laugh. "What should I do… what can I do…?" He glared at them. "I… I'll distract them!"

The blue Eeveelution pounced forward, sending a wave of dirt at his targets as he dug deeply into the loamy, fertile soil. Skuntank, Weezing and Golbat yelped and cried out as they were showered with grime.

Their leader was the first to recover his senses, taking a defensive stance as he peered around the area. "What? Who was that?"

"I dunno, boss," Weezing said, letting a large cloud of gas leave him, the pressurized stink forcing most of the solid muck off of him. "Maybe we were being watched ourselves?"

Vaporeon chose that moment to strike, smashing forward out of his hidey-hole into Skuntank's midsection, launching him into his teammates, which caused all three of them to fly over the stone wall and into the spring. As he heard the splash of their landings, he froze in place.

"_What did I just… did I really just do that?"_ He thought to himself, shocked at his own bravery._ "I… I can't believe I did that! Wow!"_

In a proud, joyful haze, Vaporeon danced in place, celebrating his achievement. _"I did it! I stopped them! Ha ha!"_ For a few, brief, euphoric minutes, he continued to pat himself on the back, cleaning his paws from the powerful digging attack.

"Skuntank… Team Skull," A loud yell came from inside the hot spring, shaking Vaporeon from his stupor. "What are you doing here?"

Bill's voice carried clearly over the sound of the native flying-types leaving the trees for quieter perches, and the hot-spring-caretaker immediately looked up at the top of the slab of granite.

"Bill and Rose don't know about those three's plans… I've got to warn them!" With renewed vigor, Vaporeon launched himself at the wall, attempting to scale it and stop the three intruders from getting away.

* * *

><p>"And… and that's what happened."<p>

I dabbed at my arms with a cloth towel, slowly lumping Vaporeon's story around over and over in my head. So Skuntank was planning to go into the mines and get bath salts to sell. Go Arceus-damn figure. "See, Rose? I told you they were up to no good."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Actually, you said no such thing. You just insulted them and asked why they had crashed into you. Never did you mention anything about them planning something."

"Whatever," I brusquely ignored her, earning me an irritated 'hmph'. "Vaporeon, are you sure that they're planning to go to the mines?"

"S-sure, I'm sure…" He was shaky in his speaking. "But… I thought explorations teams were supposed to be good and helpful…"

I sighed, rubbing between my eyes. I could tell Vaporeon was taking this whole thing hard, and I didn't blame him – his idealistic view of exploration teams had just been shattered into a billion itty-bitty pieces. If someone wasn't shaken after something like that, then I'd question their emotional health. "I wouldn't really call Team Skull an exploration team. Rose?"

Rose followed up, albeit reluctantly. "They're good Pokemon at heart, I know it. They do at least have a single kind and helpful bone in their bodies. But, well… Bill's right, they're not really an exploration team."

Vaporeon sniffled. "Then… what are they?"

I folded the towel and placed it under the towel shelf before answering. "Well… they're an exploration team in the technical sense, the sense in that they have a badge and a bag, and they can take jobs to rescue anyone or anything that might have been lost in mystery dungeons."

Lopunny, who was wringing out the fur hanging off of her ear, nodded in agreement. "Yeah, many Pokemon don't know about the dangers of mystery dungeons, and let Pokemon get lost in 'em. With a few exceptions, like how mister Tropius barred anyone from visiting the mines here."

"But the thing is, Team Skull doesn't take jobs like a normal exploration team. How they're Master-ranked, I don't know, that's probably a lie on their part. But they're scammers. Thieves. Troublemakers. Whatever term you wanna use."

Vaporeon sneezed, and Lopunny cooed pitifully, wrapping him into another comforting hug. Rose and I looked at each other worriedly, but Vaporeon was still talking. "But why?"

Rose stretched, her tails straightening out one at a time. "They just want to get rich, and don't have any real problem with doing bad things in order to reach that goal. They could be considered outlaws, but their status as an exploration team provides them a lot of leeway for law-breaking. It's unfortunate that they're taking advantage of the reputation of exploration teams, but…"

He seemed to accept this explanation, slowly sat down, his face turning thoughtful. I looked at Lopunny. "Lopunny, would you mind staying with him until he's feeling better? Rose and I need to talk. Alone."

Rose glanced at me, but Lopunny smiled happily and bobbed her head up and down. "Of course! Don't worry, he and I will be fine."

I gave the pair a confident smile, grabbing the treasure bag, both our name-necklaces, and Rose's scarf before leading her outside. Beckoning my cream-furred partner to follow me, I chose a spot a short walk down the path leading to the plaza. As soon as I stopped, Rose batted at me with one of her tails to get my attention.

"Bill…" She started, but I cut her off by placing a paw to her lips. I looked around at the trees, the palm fronds shining a sickly, indescribable color from the sunset peeking through the overgrowth. No sign of Team Skulll… I eyed a nearby stump, and I sat down on it, letting Rose speak again. She was confused.

"Bill, what? What do we need to talk about?"

"Don't you realize what just happened?" I asked incredulously. "Team Skull's up to no good."

Rose cocked her head. "Yes, I know that. That's been made quite clear, by both Vaporeon _and_ you."

I grunted. "Well… what should we do? As much as I hate to say it, we're involved with this now. We have to do something."

Rose raised her head to study the sky, and she didn't respond. I laid backward on the stump, letting my arms and aura tassels succumb to gravity, and we stayed silent for what seemed like ages.

"I don't know," She finally said, her tone quiet and unsure. "You're right, we're involved in this now. We really only have two choices."

I didn't sit up, closing my eyes in a feeble attempt to meditate. "Only two? What are they?"

"Well, we can go after them ourselves," Rose muttered. I was surprised at the adventurous idea, although I had thought of it too. "That way, nobody else would be in danger, and we could bring Team Skull in ourselves."

I nodded. The advantages were great – we'd probably get a reward for finally capturing Skull, and it would be a stellar story to weave to everybody back at Treasure Town. But if we did, we'd be violating elder Tropius's wish to have nobody explore the mines, and then we'd be no better than Skull. "And the other choice?"

"I think we should go and talk to chief Samurott," The statement was frank and logical, and I considered the advantages to that too. "Bringing in Samurott and his team, along with elder Tropius, would be the first thing any common citizen would do."

"Hmm… we'd have four more heads to think with, and they're really the ones in power here at the festival," I trailed off. "However, if we get told that we can't go after Skull, then we're sitting ducks, not able to do anything to help out. We'd just have to wait until they announce that they had caught them."

Rose sighed tiredly, and I sat up, reaching over to tousle her headfur affectionately. "As much as I'd love to go right now and kick Skull's tails, I think talking to Samurott would be better in this situation. We should go and do that right now, before anything else."

The fox finally cracked a smile at the tickling sensation of my paw on her headfur. "All right… yes, we should talk to Samurott and his team, and elder Tropius. They'll know what to do, I'm sure of it."

I hopped off of the stump, taking Rose's scarf and tying it loosely around her neck. She shook her head, fidgeting with the accessory before getting comfortable, and looked at me, new determination in her eyes.

"Let's go, then," I replied, and we broke into a mad dash towards the plaza.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This is where the plot finally gets rolling. This chapter isn't as long as the last one, but I had a lot more fun writing it, for some reason.**


	3. Disappearance

The festival seemed to be winding down, or at least was becoming far, far less active. Hordes of Pokemon shuffled past Rose and I, heading for the mountain where the temporary bedrooms had been carved out, and the setting sun's last few rays served to highlight the islanders that lit the torches hanging from the buildings. As the night began to fall, we slowed to a more relaxed walk, heads going in circles as we searched for the head of the whole place. Rose twisted her tails into an uncomfortable spiral in order to keep from blocking anybody's path, and she let out a 'hmm'.

"Bill, maybe this wasn't such a hot idea after all," She said. "We don't even know where chief Samurott is, much less where the rest of his team or elder Tropius might be."

I didn't respond, getting onto my tiptoes as I looked around. Outside of the Pokemon that were busy closing up their stores or taking leave of their tents to take a well-deserved break, the plaza was deserted, and the gurgling of the ornate fountain the only thing that kept the place from being spookily quiet. Dissatisfied, but unable to see anything useful that might have helped, I turned to my partner. "Well, it's not like finding anyone is easy. We've done enough rescue missions to know that by heart."

The joking quip went over her head as she padded forward. "We should try and retrace our steps from this morning. We'll have a good chance of finding him that way."

I half-glanced at her. "That'd be great if we explored the whole plaza today, but the only place we've been to is the meeting hall."

Her eyes flashed momentarily. "Then let's check the meeting hall first."

I nodded, and we both took off at a brisk pace towards the large wooden cabin where we had been hours earlier. It wasn't particularly hard to find, seeing as its roof was a couple feet higher than any other place there, and lanterns seemed to be liberally scattered on the walls of the building. I stepped up to the door and lightly tapped on it with my pawspike. Within the span of a second it was swiftly opened by a large, blackened paw. I looked up.

There to greet us was a large, coal-black boar, with a swirly-yellow pattern going around his belly. Stocky, charred arms sprouted from near his head, which blazed with a magnificent plume of fire. Two tiny tusks poked out from his maw. The sudden blast of heat that came from his beard hit me with full force, and I stepped back, blinking back tears.

"Mm? Oh, sorry," The gruff yet warm voice said as he exhaled a heavy breath, and the warmth that came from his chin subsided substantially. "That better?"

'Y-yes, thank you," I sputtered out, rubbing at my eyes to dry them. Satisfied, he folded his arms, snorting out a small smoke cloud.

"Well, whaddya want?" He asked shortly, not wasting any time. I was still somewhat affected by the heat, so I gestured for Rose to talk in my place, which she did gladly. She probably enjoyed the heat compared to me.

"We're looking for chief Samurott," She started. "But you're obviously not him, so-"

"Yer' lookin' for Sam?" The Pokemon rudely cut her off. "I can bring ya to him if ya help me out with somethin'. C'mon in."

He removed himself from the doorway, allowing Rose and I access to enter the large, empty room. The chairs and stools from before were still standing where they had been (with a few tipped-over exceptions), and the pile of maps that the two Snivy children had been sorting was now almost completely gone. Pulling up one of the stools, I sat down. Rose seated herself next to me, while our new friend remained standing.

"So, um… what is it that you need our help with?" I asked as politely as I could. The boar rolled his head a few times, making me wince as he cricked his neck, and he pointed upward at the tall ceiling.

"Well, I need yer help getting those two down from there," He said, and my eyes trailed up to see the two Snivy children teetering dangerously on the rafters. One of them seemed to begin to lose his balance, and the boar yelled out. "Get down from there, ya little rascals! Just because you can survive the fall without much trouble doesn't mean you should try!"

The kid moved back onto the rafter, deftly regaining his posture as he called out. "Aww, c'mon, uncle Emboar! Just once, pleeease?"

'Uncle' Emboar stomped on the floor once in warning. "No, not once! In fact, not at all! Get down from there right now, Smuggy!"

The Snivy in question stomped his foot in a pale imitation of the fire type. "I've told you, mom and dad a hundred times – it's Smuggy!"

Emboar sighed in frustration, turning to Rose and I wearily. "Ya see what I have to deal with?"

I gestured with my arms in confusion. "How are we supposed to help you with them? Do you want me to climb up onto the rafters after them?"

The boar's expression of frustration didn't chance. "Well, I thought maybe they'd listen to a pair of fresh faces. If you climbed after 'em then that'd just make 'em think that they can behave that way."

Rose nodded. "I see. So you want us to try and get them down instead of you. Alright."

I rolled my eyes and stood up, cupping my paws to my muzzle and yelling loudly. "Hey! You two… uh…" I strained to remember their names.

"Smuggy! Leafy! Could you please come down from there?" Rose sparked my memory as she called out to the two children with me. "We're not angry, we just want you two to be safe! Please?"

The two Snivy children seemed to flop onto their bellies, their sideways-teardrop-shaped heads peeking at us from their perch high up above. The one from before, Smuggy (or Smuggy) spoke. "No! It's neat up here… uh, miss Ninetales!"

The other yelled down to us as well. "Yeah, Smuggy's right! You and your friend and uncle Emboar are so small up here!"

One of my eyelids drooped halfway down in a skeptical look. "Aren't you two the least bit scared up there? You could fall, you know!"

The answer was resounding and mutual between the two. "No!"

I rubbed the back of my head, feeling the aura tassels hang from behind my ears. Turning to Rose and Emboar, I shrugged. "Well, they're braver about heights than I am."

Rose hopped onto her hind legs, her front paws flailing about wildly before she stood normally. "Now's not the time, nor the place, Bill! I think they're going to jump!"

Emboar's arms shot to their sides, paws open. "What? How can you tell?"

The Ninetales's eyes narrowed, staring intently at the twins. "Look at them! They're standing on the rafters, making diving motions with their arms."

"Diving motions?"

"Yeah. Oh, that's right, you're a fire type, you wouldn't know," Rose stated, uncharacteristically blunt as a tail pointed towards me. "Bill sometimes has to swim out during jobs to rescue Pokemon, and he always makes those diving motions before jumping in."

Emboar turned to me questioningly, and I raised my open paws in defense. "Hey, don't look at me, it just feels natural."

"Look out, you two," Rose said in a panic. "Here they come!"

Emboar and I both slipped into battle stances as we watched the pair of green snakes hop off of the rafter, doing fancy twirls, flips, and tricks all the way down. I ran forward, putting a burst of strength into a jump, and I roughly grabbed the two Pokemon, holding them close to my chest-spike. I was glad (for once) that it was blunted– no chance for the two Snivy to be seriously injured. Landing hard on the heel of one foot, I nearly toppled over as my catches wriggled around furiously in my grasp, trying as hard as they could to escape.

"Drrrgh… quit fussing, you two," I grunted in pain as one of them kicked hard against my side. "Emboar!"

"I'm here," The large pig said as he plucked the snakes away from me, holding them together in a slightly-loose clap-hold. The pair quit fidgeting almost immediately, arms going behind their backs as they stared wide-eyed at their 'uncle'.

"U-uncle Emboar! P-please," One of the Snivy kids – Leafy, I think – stuttered. "We're sorry! We won't do it again! Please don't punish us," I noticed their 'hands' twist up in the form of crossing fingers – they weren't as sorry as they said. Emboar could tell.

"Oh, _I'm_ not going to punish you, Leafy," Came the gruff reply, like clockwork. "But just wait till we get home!"

A mutual "awwwwwgh" and other assorted groans of disappointment exited Smuggy and Leafy's mouths as Emboar glared firmly at them, but by the time he set them back on solid ground they were all over Rose and I, climbing up onto us and nestling themselves in between our ears, or in the case of Rose, on top of her headfur. Emboar sighed, running a paw down his face, removing it as it reached his chin. I wondered why.

"Well, that's that, then," He said. "Now, you two wanted to meet with Sam, right?"

"Yes, and preferably sooner rather than later. We have something that we need to discuss with him," Rose replied smartly. Emboar folded his arms, exhaling another cloud of black smoke as he stared into her eyes, then nodded.

"Well, if it's important enough to warrant a sooner-rather-than-later, then I guess you must be in a hurry. C'mon then, this way."

Emboar led us out the door and into the plaza, and soon was striding confidently forth down the eastern path, his beard providing a light for us to follow. Rose and I went at a more leisurely tempo as the Snivy kids alternated from riding on top of us to running around our legs.

"Mister Lucario?" One of them asked sweetly. I looked down at him, the little green thing looking up at me with big red eyes.

"Um, it's Bill… and which one are you again?" I tried to hide my embarrassment.

"Oh, I'm Smuggy. Leafy's tail is leafier," Smuggy explained. I blinked, trying to commit the information into my memory. "Can I ask you a question, mister Bill?"

"Sure, shoot away," I blurted out. Immediately afterward I hoped I wouldn't regret it.

"Why is your chest weird?" I would have face-faulted were it not a legitimately honest question. "I've never seen a Lucario before but dad always said that they have spikes on their chests."

"Well, uh… that's a longish story, y'see," I beat around the bush, not wanting to tell this story again. Rose already brought it up every once in a while to mess with me, I didn't need to tell it myself. "I think it would take too long to tell to you just on this walk."

"Aw, come ooooooon," Smuggy pleaded. "I bet it's cool! You lost it in a big battle, didn't you?" The snake began to make cheap motions with his arms in an attempt to look like he was fighting. Rose cut in, embarrassing me for me.

"I'll tell you, Smuggy, it's not as long as he says," She let the little kid hop on top of her back. "Once we were in a mystery dungeon and I stepped on a confuse-y trap, right? Well, I accidentally launched a flamethrower at Bill and melted his spike!"

That sent the twins into hysterics, giggling uncontrollably as they imitated what they had heard, Leafy doing spins as Smuggy wobbled around in mock confusion. I hung my head low.

"Rose, c'mon, you know how embarrassing that story is," I commented sadly, and Rose licked my cheek. Smuggy and Leafy abruptly stopped fooling around and let out an 'eew, cooties' remark. I ignored it. "Do you always have to remind me of it?"

"It's not _that_ embarrassing, right?" She asked. I didn't respond, instead giving her a mopey look. "Oh, cheer up. I'm only teasing. You know I love ya'."

"Yeah…" I conceded. "Nobody can tease me angry except…"

I stopped, Skuntank briefly appearing in my mind's eye. "Well, you know."

Rose's smile faded slightly as she too thought of Team Skull. "Don't worry. We'll talk to chief Samurott and see what we can do."

"Mm-hm," I grunted in acknowledgement. "I know."

By this time, we had ended up following Emboar into a small, secluded area that was separate from the main part of the plaza. Within a small half-circle of trees was a tiny house – more of a tent, really, with four poles sticking down from the corners of the wooden roof, and flat, papery strips of bark hanging low to the ground to act as shields from the weather. Putting a paw to my ear, I could faintly hear the sound of the distant waves crashing against the shore. I had to admit, it was a very relaxing kind of place. As Smuggy and Leafy untangled themselves from Rose and I, Emboar stomped once on the ground, probably to get the attention of whoever was inside the house. A large, green leaf adorned with a flower necklace poked out from in between the flaps.

"Password?" A feminine voice said.

"Blade Basculin," Emboar, Smuggy, and Leafy replied in tandem. Rose and I looked at each other with the same thought in mind: what a strange password. The floral appendage slipped back in, and a few seconds later Serperior's head broke through the tent, her piercing red eyes looking towards Emboar first.

"Ah, Emboar, good. I see you found the kids," She said, leering at the two Snivy as she spoke. They squirmed nervously. "You two spent so much time playing and not eating that your dinners are cold. Think about that the next time you want to play at dinnertime. Now come on, get in!"

The pair dashed forward with a yelp, running to whatever their dinners were, and Serperior turned back to look at Emboar. "_Your_ dinner, on the other hand, is still hot. Will you be joining us tonight?"

"No, not tonight," The fire type muttered dubiously. "I think I'll retire to the dojo tonight to train."

"Training again? That's what you do all the time," Serperior quipped. "Well, fine. Here."

She slithered out, a bowl of odd, white flecks held firmly in a vine, and her team member took it gratefully. "Thank you, Serperior."

As Emboar left, taking a few of the white things and popping them into his mouth, the pastel green serpent looked at us. "And, ah, who might you two be?"

I folded my arms and sighed. "My name is Bill, and this is my partner, Rose. We're Team Returners."

Serperior was silent. "And…?"

Rose padded forward, lightly whapping my head with one of her tails. "We need to speak to chief Samurott, as soon as possible. It's very important."

The snake stared at us, then rolled her eyes and pulled her head back in. "Dear, there's an exploration team here to talk to you. They say it's important."

A loud shuffling noise came from inside the tent, and a few minutes later a large, sharp shell helmet speared outward, worn by a blue, mustachioed face. "Hello?"

Rose and I both stepped forward, slightly relieved. "Chief Samurott? You met us both this morning when we arrived here."

His face lit up, eyes sparkling. "Ah, Team Returners," He fully exited the tent, raising one arm (leg? I didn't know) to remove his helmet, revealing a pair of dark, fuzzy blue ears underneath. "It's good to see you! I didn't think I'd have the honor of meeting you two again."

Rose smiled. "The honor's all ours, sir. Or, um, chief."

"Please, no 'sir' or 'chief'," He replied. "I'm not that old yet. Just call me Samurott. I thought I told you that this morning, hah!"

Rose and I looked at each other in mutual surprise. "Ahm… sure thing, sir- Samurott."

"So,' He said, removing two swords from his front armor and placing them next to a tree, along with his helmet. Without them, he was far less intimidating, actually. It wasn't a bad change. "What's up? Why are you here?"

"Well, there's something Rose and I need to talk to about-" I began to explain everything, but Samurott waved a paw at me, his fan-like tail wagging.

"Actually, now that I think about it, have you two eaten yet?" He asked. I opened my mouth to answer, but my stomach growled for me. Rose chuckled before hers growled as well, and we both looked bashfully at the ground. I lightly tapped a rock with my foot. Samurott laughed.

"Say no more! Come on in, you can explain whatever you need to over dinner." He gestured for us to follow him, chuckling all the while, and Rose and I glanced at each other in mutual wonder as I scratched the fur under my chest-spike. I leaned over to her as soon as Samurott was out of sight.

"He's certainly friendly, isn't he?" I whispered, slightly amused. Rose cocked her head.

"Hey, he's inviting us in for dinner, and we haven't eaten anything all day. Let's just go in and take him up on his offer." We both nodded resolutely, and I pushed the papery flaps away as we walked into the tent.

It wasn't as tentlike as the outside would have anyone think. The middle of the little place had a roaring fire pit, a small tin bowl filled with water and white grains cooking atop a grate, while another tin bowl steamed with a green, aromatic drink. A single wall of the tent was uncovered, revealing a beautiful view of the beach about a mile off, silvery moonlight illuminating the sand. Around the campfire were small bales of hay, straw, and other assorted bedding. Two small beds were occupied by Smuggy and Leafy, who were idly picking at their meal, which I guessed was cold. Bad luck for them, although they indeed should have known better. Samurott tended to the food as Serperior coiled up, sipping at a cup full of thirst-quenching green liquid.

"Um… what's for dinner?" Rose asked, and I walked over to a small patch of dirt in between the straw beds and sat down, eyeing the pile of white somethings hungrily. Serperior looked at us.

"It's rice and green tea," The snake answered matter-of-factly, and I cocked my head in confusion.

"What's… rice and green tea?" I inquired, and Serperior made another half-coil to look at me.

"You've… never had this before?" She said skeptically as she placed a bowl of rice and a cup of tea in front of Rose and I, and I could only muster up a nod in response. Samurott placed a paw on Serperior's midsection to get her attention.

"Serp', rice and green tea aren't grown near Treasure Town, remember?" He whispered hastily into her ear, and he turned to Rose and I with a charismatic smile. "Go ahead, try it. It's not tasty, but it's filling."

I went ahead, taking a small pinch of the steaming rice and squishing it in between my paws before slipping it into my mouth. The stuff was quite bland, mostly tasting of the water it had been boiled in, with a hint of… Chesto, maybe? Some kind of dryish berry taste. I winced as I swallowed, the stuff tickling my throat as it went down, and I slowly brought the cup of tea to my maw, sipping at it hesitantly. I was surprised to find that it tasted rather sweet, and I took a modest gulp of the draught to wash down my food. Rose was a little braver with her tasting, and she was soon gnawing at the rice and tea with gusto. Everybody ate their meal in silence, with Rose finishing hers first, followed by me. Samurott and Serperior chewed far more leisurely; they'd probably had this stuff before.

"All right. Samurott, Serperior, could we ask about something?" I said as I gulped down the last of the tea I had been given. The two large Pokemon ceased their eating to look at me.

"Of course you may," Samurott said. "What about?"

"It… it has to do with the mines, north of the hot springs."

Their faces turned grave at the mention of the mines, the friendly twinkle that had occupied Samurott's eyes diminishing noticeably. "…who told you about the mines?"

"Vaporeon, the kid who looks after the springs," Rose answered. "Someone's going to try and break into the mines!"

Serperior and Samurott gave each other a look of shared worry, and Samurott stood up, walking towards the Snivy twins. "Smuggy, Leafy, please take the dishes down to the river and wash them. Your mother and I need to talk to our guests alone."

"But daaaa-aaaaad," They both whined gratingly, but Samurott would have none of it.

"No _buts_, you two," He scolded. "You two were late to dinner, and you have to wash the dishes by yourselves as punishment. Once you've finished, please bring them back. Or do you want to have _more_ to do after the dishes?"

With a defeated groan, the twin snakes gathered up the bowls and cups between them and teetered out of the tent, struggling with the heavy load on the way. As I watched the pair exit the tent, the clinking and clanking of their items soon faded away, and I turned back to the leaders of the IAET, whose combined frowns could have reached the ocean floor.

"Now, start over again," Samurott addressed Rose and I, the charisma in his voice gone, replaced by hushed concern. "Tell us where you heard about the mines."

Rose and I obediently regaled our story, starting with Weezing pushing Rose into the mud puddle, our talks with Vaporeon and Lopunny at the hot springs, the discovery and escape of Team Skull, and finally our departure to find our current conversation targets. By the time we had finished, at least an hour had passed, the moon above us slowly trailing through the sea of stars. Samurott looked at the ground in deep concentration.

"Quite a tale," He muttered. "I've never heard of this Team Skull, but they obviously mean to try and infiltrate the mystery dungeon hidden inside the mines, by your account."

"That's what it seems, if we believe Vaporeon," Rose replied. "Bill and I have never fought Team Skull paw-to-paw before, but they are quite strong."

"And they're huge jerks," I threw in. Rose leered at me, and I quit that train of thought. Samurott gave me a curious glance, but shook it off quickly. "Uh, what do you know about the mines, anyway?"

"Not much," Samurott said. "I didn't realize that the mines were so well-known outside of the Marine Resort. I only know what little elder Tropius told me."

"What did he tell you?" I leaned forward eagerly.

"Like I said, very little. I know that during the Primal Dialga incident, the Marine Resort was completely unaffected, that the mines were where bath salt stone was dug up, and that there's a mystery dungeon hidden deep inside of it..." He sighed, looking down at the dirt beneath his paws. "That's it, though. And to think that the mines have become the stuff of legend! I really ought to travel more to find these things out."

"Now, Samu'," Serperior chided. "If you were traveling, you wouldn't be here to help me take care of the kids."

"I was only joking, dear. Although I do wish that I could hear about these rumors and things sooner. Maybe we should start using field agents..."

Serperior chuckled under her breath. "Don't exploration teams and guilds count as field agents?"

We all shared a good laugh at that, Samurott cocking his head in embarrassment. These two... they made me feel at ease. I looked at Rose, who giggled merrily at the joke. Is this where she and I would be when we got later on in years? I smiled warmly at the thought. I hoped so.

"Heh heh... I'll admit, though… I'm worried," Samurott said, tone turning fretful after he stopped snickering. "I did take the precaution of posting a sentry outside of the entrance to the place, though, and she's quite strong, so I doubt there'll be too much trouble, even if it's from a team of three."

"You sent someone to guard the mines?" I asked, blinking in mild surprise. I should have guessed that he would have, but the idea hadn't crossed my mind. "Who?"

"Woobat," The answer was short. "You met her earlier this morning?"

I frowned. Woobat… she was the psychic bat from before. It was true, her psychic abilities would give her an edge over Skull, who was comprised entirely of part-poison types. Something still didn't feel right… I ignored the nagging feeling of dread in my forehead, putting on a wimpy smile to hide my thoughts. "Hm. Well, that's good, but what if she's not able to take care of them?"

"What?" Serperior, who had been silent the entire time, seemed surprised at my question. "What are you implying?"

"Er," I stumbled over my words. "I'm not trying to imply anything. But there's still that chance, right?"

"And what's so important about that to you?"

"What Bill's trying to ask is…" Rose sighed. "What he's asking is what happens if Woobat's defeated? Who goes after Team Skull then?"

We didn't receive an answer as quick as I would have liked, Samurott and Serperior both thoroughly studying the dirt we stood on. The uncomfortable air didn't help my nerves any.

"If Woobat's defeated… well, we'd send someone to rescue Woobat, then we'd go from there," Samurott spoke slowly and methodically, emphasizing every word. I folded my arms, closing my eyes to focus.

"If Woobat isn't able to stop Team Skull, I'd like your permission for Bill and I to go after them," Rose requested plainly. I did a double take.

"Rose?" I asked blankly. "I thought we chose _not_ to try that idea."

She stared at me, cocking her head as she smiled sweetly. "Just because we didn't act on that idea first doesn't mean it's a bad one."

"It's not a bad idea at all," Serperior wondered aloud. "But I think that for now, you should leave this sort of thing to the IAET. You got an invitation to a festival, not another job request."

Samurott coughed loudly to get everybody's attention, and we looked towards him. "I agree with Serp'. From the way you act, you seem to know a lot more about Team Skull than you've told us. However…"

"However?"

Samurott grunted deeply. "You two aren't here to work, you're here to relax and enjoy a break from work. And besides," His voice dropped to a low murmur. "I'm not really the one who can give you permission to go into the mines. You'd have to ask elder Tropius about that, and he's already retired for the night."

Rose nodded in understanding, while I grunted in frustration. "So the answer's no. All right."

"Please don't be angry. I'm simply not the one who can grant that request. Why not head to the mountain and get some rest?" The large sea lion winked. "Tomorrow's another big day!"

As if on cue, I yawned, stretching my arms. In retrospect, Samurott had a point – Rose and I had had a long, busy day. And to think that barely any of it was spent relaxing. "We all should get some sleep. I bet your kids are bushed."

"You're probably right," Serperior chuckled as she slithered her head into the tent. "Smuggy? Leafy? It's time for bed."

Our expectations were left unmet as the only thing that entertained us was an unsettlingly eerie silence, a sudden gust of wind sending a chill down my spine, and I grasped at my fur, shivering. The large, pale green serpent exited the tent, eyes wide with… fear?

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Dear…" Her voice quivered. "They're not in the tent."

Samurott stood straighter, his muscles tensing. "You mean they never came back from their dishwashing?"

Serperior nodded grimly, and Rose and I both sucked in a breath. Samurott was silent, frozen in shock, and for a few minutes, nobody said a word.

"They can't have gotten far. Serperior, you try and find Emboar and get him to help us out," Samurott said, steel creeping into his voice as he gave the order. His mate nodded, trying hard to keep up her façade of calmness, and shot off towards the plaza. Stomping over to his equipment leaning against a tree, the water type slipped both his shell blades into the armor on his forelegs, and with a nearly-robotic movement he shoved his fearsome helmet back onto his head. His charismatic charm was gone, replaced by an intimidating determination. Rose took a step forward.

"Um… chief?" Rose's tone was thick with concern, depicted by her unconscious use of Samurott's formal title. "What should Bill and I do?"

He turned to us, the spear-like protrusion jutting out from the tip of his helmet pointing between my partner and I. He sighed. "You two… please, get some sleep. Leave this to us."

Rose opened her mouth to protest, but Samurott had blasted away with a powerful aqua jet before anything else could be said.

* * *

><p>The crazy overgrowth of the forest twisted and turned with every step, the pale moonlight providing barely enough luminance to see. Knotted palm trees sprouted from every which way, ropey vines drooped from the higher branches of the canopy, and the soil mingled with sand and stone, the perfect picture of untamed wilderness. A pair of tiny green snakes bumped and battered their way through the unblazed trail, each holding a small stick that they occasionally swung through the air, marveling at the swishing sound it made as it cut through the silence.<p>

"Smuggy, where are we going?" Leafy asked, holding his stick closed to himself as he stabbed it into the dirt. His twin brother turned, smirking recklessly as he brandished his stick like a sword, thrusting it forward with a loud 'tah!'

"Didn't you hear that exploration team visiting mom and dad?" The Snivy said, cocking his head skeptically. "There's a buncha bad guys who're going to break into the mines!"

"So… what are we gonna do about it?" Leafy's innocent question was out of place in such a dangerous environment. Smuggy barked out a laugh at his brother's expense.

"Whaddya think? We're gonna find the bad guys…" Smuggy swung his makeshift blade again, bringing it into a rather sloppy salute. "And capture 'em! And then mom and dad'll be really proud of us! Think of it like a… a little adventure!"

Leafy nodded, still somewhat meek about the idea, and plodded forward with his brother. The trees grew thicker as they continued on, soon even the moonlight not shining through the fronds. Pitch blackness dominated the forest soon enough, the unsettling surroundings filling the boys with a sense of dread that soon beat out their former fervor.

"B-bro… can we head back?" Leafy asked futilely, knowing full well that they were lost.

"N-no way! And have to deal with mom and dad yelling at us for leaving the dishes back at the river?" Smuggy lightly scolded his twin, his voice wavering. "C'mon, look! There's a big ol' tunnel right there past those bushes. Those have gotta be the mines!"

The pair pushed past a clump of assorted foliage and found themselves in a small clearing, a large hole smashed into the side of a mountain. They gazed in wonder at the large hunk of rock that stood before them – they had traveled very far!

Smuggy dropped his stick, feeling at the landmass with a vine that slithered out of his collar. "Wow… we really did make it! I didn't think-" Looking at his brother's wide-eyed reaction, he coughed. "E-er, I mean… of course we made it! I knew we would."

"So… now we just have to wait for the bad guys, right?" Leafy wondered aloud, waddling over to a small stone jutting out of the ground and sitting on it, his stick clacking to the ground noisily. His brother patted the mountain, confidence returning somewhat as he rubbed his chin, thinking hard about what to do next.

"Hmm… well, I guess we should just wait here," Smuggy concluded, and sat down next to his brother. For a few minutes, nothing was said between the two as the waited patiently for their prey to come to them. They waited…

And waited…

And waited some more…

Soon, the two began to tire of waiting, resulting in many impromptu games of X-and-Os in the dirt. Leafy drew his third X across from his other two and flung his stick up in the air in triumph.

"I win again," He cheered, and Smuggy kicked the rock they sat on, wincing and hopping about as he hurt his foot. Leafy laughed loudly, flopping onto his belly in hysterics.

"Man, what a joke! The Lucario and the Ninetales lied! Nobody's here at all," Smuggy complained. "This is so boring… I wish something would happen!"

Leafy abruptly stopped laughing, covering his brother's mouth. "Don't say that! Aw… man, now something really _is_ gonna happen! Thanks a lot!"

"I know, that's why I said it!"

True to their prediction, the trees began to rustle wildly as a strong wind blew in from the south. The twins jumped in surprise and hid behind their rock chair, shivering.

"W-wah… I didn't mean it! I was joking, I didn't really think something would happen," Smuggy complained even louder than before, and a rumbling came from his tummy. He groaned. "Oof… I'm hungry."

"Neither of us ate much of our dinner… I wanna go home, bro…" Leafy's legs began to tremble, and his brother stared at him.

"What about before? You were all gung-ho about going after those bad guys, I didn't wanna go at all!"

"Nuh-uh! You were the one who wanted to get them! I wanted to go home!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

A grand thunderclap broke their argument, spooking them senseless as they yelped. Small water droplets began to trickle down from the heavens above, and the Snivy kids were miserable, clinging to each other as they screamed. "Hellllllp! Heeeeeeeelp!"

"What? Who's there?" A new voice entered their ears, and they looked towards the tunnel to see a familiar face, who they rushed to without warning. They leapt at the newcomer, nesting in the blue fuzz, their added weight dragging the bat down to the ground. Woobat made a strange noise, a cross between a shocked gasp and an exasperated sigh.

"You two? What on earth are you doing here? And in this weather," Woobat's terse scolding had no effect on the twins. "Your parents must be worried sick!"

"W-we're waiting for the b-bad guys," One of the Snivy chattered out. Woobat couldn't tell which one. "We're g-gonna capture 'em and b-bring 'em back to mom and d-dad!"

"Bad guys?" Woobat flapped her wings hard against the wind, sending her two green weights flying into the nearby bushes. "What do you mean, bad guys?"

The two kids didn't respond, quivering with fear in the bushes as the storm doused them with fresh rain, and Woobat sighed in frustration. "If you aren't going to tell me, then at least go back home, where you belong!"

"Well, well," A hidden voice said, the tone sleazy and almost stereotypically untrustworthy. "Whadda we have here?"

Another patch of bushes, across from the one that Smuggy and Leafy had ended up in, shook violently, and a strange stench flowed into Woobat's heart-stamped nose. She snuffled, fuzz flaring up as her keen sense of smell attempted to identify the new and foreign gas. She hopped up and fluttered into the air, intensifying her psychic energy, creating a translucent screen of light around her. The moonlight that bounced off of the raindrops refracted off of the special barrier, a mix of colors dancing around the area.

"Who's there?" Woobat said curtly, keeping close to the tunnel entrance to find shelter from the storm. The forest shook, trees bending in the raging winds as the rain began to beat down harder. A large, bristling figure appeared out of the cover of darkness, his menacingly beady eyes glaring greedily at the tunnel behind Woobat. She couldn't tell entirely what she was dealing with here… she focused again as the intruder spoke.

"Nobody here but us poison types," The voice said, continuing to stomp forward threateningly, and Woobat stared at the Pokemon, mouth set firm.

"Well, nobody's allowed into this tunnel! Chief Samurott's orders," She flapped a tiny bit higher, raising her head proudly. "So be off with you!"

The warning did little to deter the poison type, who walked forward airily, with a humor that crossed the border of arrogance twice over. Who was this guy to menace her? "Don't take another step, sir! I give you fair warning that I have the type advantage, if you are indeed a poison type as you so claim."

"Really now?" The Pokemon said ignorantly, taking two more paces. "That's nice."

"Very well! If you won't heed my advice," Woobat yelled, the refracting shield of energy glowing with mental power. "Then prepare for battle!"

Her target stopped at that, standing still as his ears flattened tauntingly. Roaring, Woobat focused tightly on the intruding Pokemon, excess psychokinetic energy pouring off of her, and a rippling wave shot forward from her snout, making a beeline at the dark figure. However, it bounced right off as if it had hit a mirror, instead crashing into a tree and splitting into nothingness. Woobat's jaw dropped as her attacker stepped into the moonlight. A purple-striped skunk smirked evilly at her, casually stretching his legs and yawning. The Snivy twins, still hidden in the bushes, shivered at the sight.

"Oh, did I forget to mention?" The voice remarked coldly. "I'm also a dark type."

He cricked his neck and pounced, fangs bared as he went in on the offensive, and Woobat only just dodged the chomp that was aimed at her left side. Spinning into a roll, she tried as hard as she could to keep her focus, adding another translucent layer of physical defense around her. She nearly looked like a rainbow, hues of all kinds surrounding her as she went into a dive, wing shining brightly. Skuntank somersaulted past Woobat's wing attack, causing her to pull out at the last moment to avoid eating the dirt.

Smuggy and Leafy watched, terrified, as the battle went on, Skuntank effortlessly avoiding the only attack that Woobat knew that would have any chance of hurting him. The skunk chuckled, coughing violently a few times before launching a jet of red-hot fire at the fuzzy blue bat, the blaze crackling furiously despite the pouring rain. Woobat swiftly flew under it, and the flamethrower struck the mountainside above the tunnel, leaving a blackened scorch as it extinguished itself.

"Aww, is the poor little bat getting' tired?" Skuntank cackled, jumping forward now that his target was closer to the ground, and attempted to chomp down on her again. Woobat, thinking quickly, rushed forward, focusing psychic power to her snout as the heart stamp that adorned it began to glow. Skuntank missed his mark, instead smashing his head against the bat, sending them both backwards from recoil. Skuntank fell near the tunnel, the ineffectiveness of the heart stamp stifling the aftershock, while Woobat landed in the bushes right on top of the Snivy children, who both gulped down the knot in their throats. She grinned with determination as she awkwardly raised herself off of the two, formulating a new plan on the fly.

"You two," She whispered hastily. "Stay here, out of sight! Don't you dare leave these bushes!"

Smuggy found his voice as he knelt down, doing as he was told. "B-but what about you, Woobat?"

"Just don't get caught," She ordered as she began to charge all of her remaining stamina into her wings, which burned brightly with power. "Rrrrrrrrraaaaa!"

Woobat let out a battle cry that was even louder than the thunder as she shot out of the bushes with the force of a cannonball, both of her wings glowing in a double wing attack. Skuntank, however, was ready, and he opened his mouth wide to welcome the psychic bat. Woobat winced in extreme pain as the crunching teeth sank deeply into the thin tissue, and her strength left her as she collapsed in Skuntank's hold. The cruel Pokemon grinded his jaws a bit before spitting out his prey, rolling her around with his paws like a Skitty would a ball of rope. Her wings wrapped loosely around her body

"Chaw-haw-haw! Weezing, Golbat, c'mere," He laughed, ignoring the irritating feeling of his wet fur as he called to his two compatriots. "We got our permission to go into these mines!"

A meaner-looking bat and a three-headed ball of gas hovered into the clearing, their jaws hanging open as they gazed over the unconscious ball of blue fuzz. "Whoa-ho-ho… so now we can go and find some of that bath salt stuff?"

"It looks like it, eh, Weezing?" Golbat joked. "It doesn't look like the little girl minds… heh-heh-heh!"

"Well, then, let's go right on ahead, if you're all ready?" Skuntank asked, and Golbat and Weezing nodded. "Okay. In!"

The three shared a final laugh before marching cheekily into the tunnel, leaving the fainted form of Woobat alone in the little field. Smuggy and Leafy stared, wide-eyed and frightened, at the now-empty entrance to the mines. Leafy gulped constantly, trying to regain his ability to speak. Smuggy blinked back tears.

"W… what do we do, bro?" Leafy asked, standing up. "Woobat needs help!"

Smuggy pushed him back down firmly. "No, no, don't leave! What if those bad guys decide to come back?"

"But… what can we do, then? We can't just leave her there…" The question was a difficult one. Smuggy patted the fertile soil, brushing away a few stray roots, and lay down in the bush.

"Woobat told us to stay in this bush and not get caught. Let's just sleep until the morning, the bad guys will have to have left by then."

Smuggy promptly shut his eyes to sleep, but Leafy was still unconvinced. "But… bro… we were supposed to be the ones who caught the bad guys, not let them get away…"

That was something that obviously didn't want to be brought up, as the snappy reply showed. "Just go to sleep, Leafy!"

Water continued to sweep down across the area, the footprints left by Skuntank washing away as the ground turned to mud. The still form of Woobat, still left to bear the brunt of the storm, rolled around in the strong gusts, and the twin snakes she had inadvertently saved shivered from the cold, wind, and rain, their makeshift bed providing little protection from the elements. Leafy let out a pitiful whimper as a raindrop landed in his eye, trying hard to rub the stinging discomfort away. Their little adventure, as Smuggy had put it, was a lot less exciting now that they were stuck sleeping in a bush.

* * *

><p>I shifted around on the pile of straw that served as my bed, Arceus for some reason choosing to keep me awake tonight. The bedroom was completely dark, with the only windows in the hallway outside, hewn high out of a side of the mountain. The rain pattered against the panes of glass, the storm outside quickly picking up strength. I grunted inwardly; maybe the squall would pass over us in the night and leave the next day to be clear and sunny again. Rose's Pecha Scarf hung limply out of our treasure bag, the sweet scent faintly perfuming the room. I shuffled onto my other side, taking a deep whiff of the smell as I curled up in the fetal position, counting Mareep in a vain attempt to get to sleep. One Mareep… two Mareep…<p>

"Bill?" A timid voice punctured the peaceful quiet, and my eyes flickered open, greeted by total blindness. Groaning, I sat up, running a paw over my face.

"Rose? You're still awake?" I asked. "C'mon, it's late. We need to sleep."

"I…" The fright from before was layered on thicker than berries in a fruit salad. "I'm worried."

"Didn't I tell you to stop worrying so much before we came here?"

"That's different," Rose said halfheartedly. "I mean, both of those Snivy twins are missing… Team Skull's going to break into the mines…"

"Hey, it'll be alright…" As my sight adjusted to the dim lighting, I fumbled my way over to my partner, who squeaked as I wrapped her into a hug.

"No, it won't," She lamented. "You said that the festival was going to be this really relaxing vacation, but everything so far has gone wrong…"

"Shh, shh, shh," I put a paw on her lips. "I know today was rough, but what Samurott said was right. Tomorrow's another big day."

"You just don't get it, do you?" She snapped. "It's our fault that those twins are missing!... my fault…"

"Your fault?" I said incredulously. "How is it your fault?"

"Bill, think! We arrive and talk Samurott and Serperior about the mines, and suddenly their kids go missing?"

"Yeah, and?" I could see where it was going, but I urged Rose to speak her mind. She wouldn't lose her nervousness if she didn't talk about it, after all.

"Well… don't you think that the kids might have tried to go to the mines themselves?" Her voice dropped to an almost inaudible whisper.

I didn't answer her, instead opting to gently rock her back and forth, and she buried her muzzle above my chest spike, a very weak stream of tears wetting the fur around it. I took the moment to ponder. She was right, Smuggy and Leafy probably had decided to go to the mines based on what little they heard about it. And why had they heard it? Because I had let Team Skull escape during my outburst. Guilt weighed heavily on my heart.

"Rose… I'm sorry," I muttered into her ear, and she jerked out of our hug in surprise.

"You're sorry? What for? This isn't your fault."

I tousled her headfur, letting out a pitiful chuckle. "Actually, it is. Everything today is my fault," I placed both my paws on her sides, firmly holding her. "I… I acted badly down at the hot springs. Team Skull got me angry and I didn't think. That's why they escaped."

"Bill…" Rose tried to comfort me, but I kept her still.

"I let Team Skull escape, and that's why we had to talk to Samurott. If I hadn't let my anger get the better of me, the two Snivy kids wouldn't be missing right now. You didn't do anything wrong at all," The words rolled off my tongue like a river. "Hell, if anything I should be thanking you for calming me down."

"Mmph," she shifted uncomfortably, and I loosened my grip on her.

"Don't blame yourself, and don't worry about Smuggy and Leafy. I'm sure that Samurott, Serperior and Emboar will be able to find them before they get into too much trouble," I wrapped Rose into another hug, and she nuzzled into my cheek.

"But I can't help but feel like I'm partially to blame, too," She whined. "Why…?"

"Rose, that's not blame you're feeling…" I smiled. "Man, even though we evolved, we're still really just kids when it comes to emotions, aren't we?"

"Huh?" Rose grunted, confused. I prattled on ignorantly.

"I mean, whenever I get really angry, you're the one who can calm me down. But whenever you get really worried or panicked, I'm the one who calms you down. It's weird, isn't it?"

"Um… sure?" I shook my head, composing myself as I formulated a point to my rambling.

"You're not to blame for worrying, Rose. It just goes to show that you care a whole lot about those kids… and that's what I love about you, Rose," I said affectionately. "You just care so much about _everything_."

"Bill, I… thanks?" She was thrown off by the impromptu compliment.

"But right now, you're caring too much. I know we haven't had anything big like this happen since…" My mind wandered to our last big adventure, down with Cresselia in the Dark Crater. "Well, you know. But look at us!"

"What's so wrong about caring?" She asked accusingly, and I raised my paws in defense.

"I never said anything was _wrong_ with caring. But… I mean, you're going to worry so much that you won't get any sleep," I explained as best I could.

Rose was silent for a few moments before letting out a quiet huff. I gave her a quick peck on her nose and rubbed behind her ear, earning me a purr in response. I gave her a genuine smile. Maybe now was a good time to apologize for real. Before I knew it, a seemingly-infinite wellspring of determination had bloomed in the pit of my stomach. Now to figure out a way to put it so that it wasn't-

"Rose… would you please accept my apology for my behavior at the hot spring?" I blurted out, and she blinked.

"Bill… oh, Bill, of course…" She rammed into me, knocking me onto my bed as she licked all over my face, a playful spunk returning to her demeanor.

"And… I'm sorry that the festival hasn't been that great so far," I continued. "I thought that it would be fun to take a few days off, but so far it's been looking like nothing but more work."

I hadn't expected a response, as she flopped over and intertwined herself with me, tails and all. I wrapped her into a hug, careful not to jab her with the spikes on my paws. She was so warm… We stayed still for a matter of minutes, taking mutual comfort in each other's company. Nothing could have made us more peaceful, and I didn't care that I was tempting fate by thinking that.

"Rose? Can I make a suggestion?" I asked, and she tiredly licked my cheek as a go-ahead. "Tomorrow, we can ask Tropius about the mines, and if he says no… then we just spend our weekend enjoying the festival. How does that sound?"

She snored softly, obviously having fallen asleep before hearing my idea. I let my mind wander once again, pushing the lingering negativity and guilt about Skull away, brainwashing myself into forgetting my grudge with them. Soon Arceus relented, finally letting me doze, to dream of better things and ignore the many events of the day that had just passed. For a while, I had a reprieve – no, Rose and I both had a reprieve. And who knew? Maybe Woobat would pull through, Skull would be captured, the Snivy twins would be found, and everything would turn out fine. I fidgeted a bit in my sleep.

If only it could be that easy.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Plot continues. I didn't mean to focus so much on the two Snivy kids, but I did think that they needed some attention, as they're going to be crucial to the plot.**

**I'm trying only to have named characters in there that will have a plot focus, from small to big. This whole story is mostly a practice of that idea.  
><strong>


	4. Distraction

I became aware of the darkness that surrounded me all too abruptly, muffled sounds of movement coming from somewhere nearby. I moaned inwardly as my consciousness began to return, knowing without seeing the sun that rose outside. Light, clear and intrusive, flooded into the small bedroom, filling every nook and cranny that it could as it threatened to force open my vision. Mouth (and eyes) shut tight, I moved a leaden arm to cover my face, hoping it would be enough. It was, and I sighed as I got settled once again, ready to continue my rest.

However, another factor I had not remembered started to take hold. After a mere minute, maybe two, I tore my head away from the straw, feeling uncomfortably warm. My eyes opened as little as they could, dark slits peeking out in lucid frustration. Looking towards the bright window, the world illuminated both me and my nine-tailed partner, who continued to sleep peacefully. Chalk it up to her being a fire type. I rubbed at my face and at the tassels hanging below my head, giving up on trying to fall back to sleep. "Dammit."

I blinked a few times, disentangling myself from Rose as carefully as I could, trying not to wake her up, and stood, stretching out my arms, legs, and tail. Glancing towards the Ninetales, my mouth curled into a smile as I heard her snoring softly, but that sound was soon drowned out by a loud growl from my stomach. Deciding to let her be for the moment, I turned to the treasure bag, which hung from an extinguished torch. Pulling a scrap of loose paper from the rucksack and a piece of charcoal from the torch, I began to scribble out a note, choosing the standard script instead of footprint runes. I certainly had the time to sketch out each individual footprint, but in the face of hunger I chose the easier route. When I was finished, I slipped the message in between Rose's front paws, hoisted the treasure bag over my shoulders and sidled out the hollowed doorway.

_"Rose,_

_ Going to café for breakfast_

_ Meet me there when you wake up_

_ - Bill"_

I followed the hallway, occasionally dodging passerby Pokemon (most of which went up to half my height), and followed the stream of awakening teams through and out of the area. Aside from an occasional nod and "hi", or the more frequent bump and "excuse me", all eyes (and bellies) were fixated on one place – the path leading back to the central plaza, which is where pretty much everybody ended up. Quickly scanning the map from the day before, I picked a café close to the edge of the area and eventually found it, stepping inside.

It was cool inside, and surprisingly quiet considering the morning rush. It was a two-floored room, with a bar on one end and a handful of tables on the other, and the few patrons that were there were either eating or quietly conversing about whatever, with the exception of one pair that was loudly slurping their drinks. Glancing at said pair slowly, I grinned as I recognized their familiar shapes, and ambled over casually. The pink-furred blob of a Pokemon and his bunny friend continued without noticing me, or the world that passed us by outside the large window behind them. I wasn't surprised.

"Hey, guys," I said, whistling sharply as I waggled a paw in front of their faces. That got their attention, and Wigglytuff set down his large smoothie, smiling warmly as he juggled a Perfect Apple between his ears.

"Friendly-friend," He cheered, leaving his seat to bring me into a spine-crushing hug, and all my senses went awry as he lifted me off my feet. Lopunny giggled, waving a hello to me. "I knew you and Rose would come! I knew it!"

"Yeah, that's great-" I said weakly. "Can I sit down?"

Wigglytuff let go of me as I asked, unabashedly sitting back down. I pulled up a stool as well, flagging over a small green monkey in the process.

"I don't really know what I want, something strong," I described aimlessly as I realized I had no idea what they served, but the monkey nodded all the same and skipped off. I sent up a silent prayer to Arceus that I didn't receive something bitter and refocused on the two at the table. "So, uh… what were you two talking about?"

Lopunny took a sip of her own drink, then answered. "Well, I was telling him about what happened at the hot spring yesterday. Team Skull and all that."

My face drooped into a frown. "Oh."

Wigglytuff chuckled into his wooden straw before polishing off his smoothie. "What a story it was! I remember them from way back when!"

"So do I… yep. So do I," I mumbled more to myself than to Wigglytuff. Lopunny smiled at me.

"Besides, I'm sure that it's nothing to worry over. Just a buncha mean guys that'll get beaten by the ones guarding the mines," Lopunny pumped her arms in a punching motion. At that moment, the monkey waiter returned with a steaming hot cup of milk (thank Arceus, something not bitter), which I accepted gratefully, handing him a couple coins as payment. Taking a deep gulp, I jolted fully awake, the scalding liquid burning my tongue and throat on its way down. Blinking back tears, set the mug down. My mind began to work again, images of the late night before popping into my head from my subconscious, and I shook my head at Lopunny disappointedly.

"Lopunny, you don't even know half of what's going on," I said, and she cocked her head at me. Wigglytuff asked the waiter for another smoothie.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She replied, and I sighed into my drink.

"Long story. After we went to find Chief Samurott yesterday, we found his teammate, Emboar, and Samurott's two kids…" It took about an hour, maybe an hour and a half, to weave the tale of last night. Most insignificant details I skipped over, but overall the pair got the picture quite clearly, and the expressions on their faces only proved it, both of them wearing worried looks.

"That's terrible! Those poor kids…" Lopunny cried out, drawing annoyed looks from nearby customers. "I hope they were found!"

"Wow, friendly-friend…" Wigglytuff said, his euphemism lightening the mood somewhat. "That's not good at all. Where do you think Samurott and Serperior's kids went?"

"No clue," I said. "Rose nearly kept herself up all night worrying that she had something to do with it. She thinks that the kids had gone off to try to fight Team Skull themselves."

"What?" Lopunny rubbed her cheek. "Well, that makes sense, I guess, but wouldn't they have been found really easily then?"

"Who knows?" I wondered aloud. "Like I said, last we saw of 'em, they were going down to the river to wash dishes, and then they just up and disappeared."

"Haaaah… good morning, everyone," Rose walked up to us, her voice laden with grogginess. I tousled her headfur.

"Morning, Rose. We were just talking about last night," I filled her in, and she went from half-asleep to alert in the span of a second.

"Those kids," She blurted out, and I quickly looked away, suddenly finding the rest of the café very interesting. It had, in fact, filled up quite a bit, and now the noise we made was drowned out by the rest of the patrons. The few Pokemon that had been there from the beginning seemed annoyed but made no effort to ask everyone to be quieter.

"Anyway, from what I overheard other friendly-friends talking about on my walk this morning…" Wigglytuff started. "Well, neither Team Skull nor those two kids ever popped up as a talking topic."

I grimaced. "So neither of them have been found. Great." I laid my head in my paw and glanced out the window behind Wigglytuff and Lopunny, Pokemon of all shapes and sizes walking around. A group of muscled Gurdurr carrying beams of iron, a Gallade opening up his map, a pile of Floatzels, even a regal-looking Weavile with an Arbok and a Drapion (Team AWD, probably. Hadn't seen them around in a while). The rest of the festival went on, while the four of us sat inside, mulling over the ones that were missing. The green monkey came back, and Rose ordered herself an apple smoothie.

"Maybe we should go look for them ourselves?" Lopunny offered a suggestion, but Rose shook her head.

"That's what we asked Chief Samurott last night – he told us to just head to the mountain to sleep. I assume that he wants to keep this whole thing secret."

Wigglytuff patted his belly, which rumbled in satisfaction from its earlier smoothie. He took a sip of his second one. "That makes sense. He doesn't want the festival ruined for the rest of the teams attending. This is supposed to be a relaxing vacation, not another job."

"Is it the best choice in the long run, though?" I asked. "Rose and I know Team Skull better than pretty much anyone else, and I doubt that a single guard could handle all three of them."

"But then, would you and Rose be able to handle them, friendly-friends? Just the two of you?" Wigglytuff shot back. "Unless I'm remembering wrong, you never did actually fight them face-to-face. The first time they ambushed you and the second time they were incapacitated. We really don't know how strong they are."

"Hrmm…" A strange noise rose from my throat as an answer, and I looked away. He was right, now that I thought about it. But only partly. "Wait, yes you do. You fought them, you told us about that after it was all over! They tried to ambush you and you whupped them all! And we whupped you during the graduation mission, so we have to be stronger than Skull!"

Wigglytuff cocked his head in confusion. "Huh? I've never fought you and Rose before. The graduation from the guild was when you fought the Grand Master of All Things Bad and his lackeys, remember?"

"The Grand Master… of All Things Bad…" Rose had a small smile on her face, though my feelings about the matter were slightly-less pleasantly stated.

"Oh yes, I forgot. Thank you for refreshing me. I also seem to recall him pushing us into his own trap the second time we attempted to graduate. Wasn't that fun, Rose?" I layered on the sarcasm as I remembered the charade the guild had put on at the edge of the Luminous Spring. For a minute or two, Rose and I both reminisced in the memory, thinking fondly about the mission that made us into a real exploration team.

"We shouldn't worry too much about this," Lopunny attempted amiably to raise our spirits, breaking us from our reverie. "After all, Chief Samurott and the IAET are the best of the best of exploration teams! I'm sure that they'll have everything fine and dandy in no time."

"I…" Rose said hesitantly. "Oh, I can't stop worrying. I'm not as worried as I was before, but… I mean, it's been all night, and the storm…"

"I agree with Lopunny. Have a little faith in Chief Samurott, Serperior, and Emboar; if anyone's capable of fixing this, they are," Wigglytuff chimed in, swirling his drink around with its small wooden straw. "Bill, Rose, friendly-friends, why not take a walk around the plaza and find something to do? It might take your mind off of all this."

I blinked, the idea uncharacteristically simple coming from the often-non-sequiter guildmaster. "Hum. Maybe that would work. We could give it a shot, anyway, Rose and I haven't seen much of anything other than the hot springs."

Rose glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes. They were a duller red than normal, lack of cheer made quite clearly evident. "But…"

"C'mon, Rose, Wigglytuff has a point," Lopunny cut in. "You came here to have a good time, not to bother with some Pokemon you haven't seen in years! Live it up! Make this the greatest day of your life! I mean, it's not every day you're partying at the Marine Resort!"

I turned to Rose, bringing her in close as I gave her a quick peck just in front of her tuft of headfur. "Please, Rose? For me, at least?"

She stared intently at me, then sighed in defeat, letting her head droop. "Fine. But if we see any sign of those kids, then I'm bringing them back to their parents, no buts or ifs about it."

"Agreed," I nodded, smiling, and downed the rest of my hot milk in a single gulp. "If that's settled, then let's go right now!"

We both said a quick "bye" to Lopunny and Wigglytuff before exiting the café, leaving our two companions back at the table. A few minutes after we left, the green monkey waiter returned to our table with a now-ownerless smoothie, which Wigglytuff quickly took for himself. Lopunny giggled.

* * *

><p>A yellowed beam of light cut through the canopy, bouncing off the fresh coating of dew that lingered on the leaves. A stray droplet gravitated its way across a small blade, lingering for a moment at the apex before falling, making a small "plop!" as it collided with a Snivy's nose. The snake wriggled from the sudden contact, shaken out of his slumber. Rolling over, he groaned, feeling an ache in his back. The uneven ground didn't help matters.<p>

"L... Leafy?" Smuggy called out weakly, voice hoarse for reasons he couldn't think of. He sat up slowly, yelping as he bonked into a low-hanging branch. "Wh... where are we? Leafy, where are you?"

"O-over here," A voice rang sharply into Smuggy's ears, making him wince in pain. Rubbing away the blurriness in his vision, he slowly surveyed the area, recalling the details of the night before. His face morphed into an expression of unfamiliar fear.

"Are..." He snuggled back into the bush that had been his bed. "Are those three bad guys still gone?"

Leafy's thinner form appeared in front of him, holding out a hand to lift him up. "I've been awake for an hour, and they haven't come back... what should we do, bro?"

The Snivy shook his head. "I don't know, Leafy. We can't just sit here all day, I'm starving! We should head back to mom and dad and get breakfast!"

Leafy seemed apprehensive. "But... but won't mom and dad yell at us for sneaking off? That's why we didn't go back to them last night, you said it yourself."

"I know, I know," Smuggy blabbed, unease increasing as he thought of the punishments they might get. "But... um..."

He looked around the area once again. The mouth of the cave gaped wide, almost as if it would swallow the pair of children at any moment. Quickly turning around to avoid the sight, Smuggy's eyes rested on a small lump on the ground. "Wait..."

Leafy's eyes widened as Smuggy jogged over to the dark blue ball and unfurled it, revealing a bloodied, bruised, and overall battered Woobat. "I... I... oh my-"

"I get it," Smuggy's voice, while still hoarse, had a noticeably crafty tone masking his obvious fear. "I know how we can go back to mom and dad without getting in trouble!" He let out a loud whooping cry, only to fall to his knees as he entered into a violent coughing fit. Leafy jumped slightly in shock, quickly coming to his brother's side and rubbing at his back.

"Don't yell, bro," Leafy advised as best he could while Smuggy attempted to get himself under control. "What's got you so excited?"

After a few moments, Smuggy pointed at the still form of the older bat. "If we go back to mom and dad with Woobat and tell 'em about how those bad guys broke into that cave that they shouldn't have, we'll totally get rewarded instead of punished! We can still be the heroes!"

Leafy knelt down near Woobat, poking gently at her large, heart-stamped nose. Smuggy pounded a fist into his palm. "It's perfect, foolproof! C'mon, bro, help me lift her up."

This task proved far more difficult than either of them had expected, taking many tries on both their parts. After a number of spills, tumbles, and losses of footing, the pair eventually lifted her up together, finding a balance between each other's arm strength to be able to move quickly, albeit awkwardly.

"For a Pokemon that's smaller than us, she sure seems to weigh a lot more," Smuggy quipped, rolling his shoulders to get comfortable. Leafy only sniffled in response. They had taken about five steps before Leafy turned to look at his brother.

"Um... which way do we go?"

Smuggy stopped dead in his tracks, eyes widening and fear growing. His jaw dropped open, ready to answer... and he gulped, the dryness of his throat suddenly apparent. "I... don't remember."

The twins stared at each other quietly before breaking down into sobs, the only coherent sounds leaving their mouths a combination of "I'm" and "lost". Their distraction was so great that they didn't notice a hulking shape sneaking up behind them... and before they could change their pleas of lost to pleas of help, they found themselves in a firm, warm grasp.

"Gotcha!"

* * *

><p>Rose and I found ourselves on a pebbled path leading out to what the map confirmed was the beach, strolling along silently to ourselves. The occasional Pokemon passed us by with a wave, which we would return with a nod (or in Rose's case, a nod and a wag of her tails), but otherwise the day was quiet... and a bit boring. I hoped the beach was more active - seeing as Rose had picked our activity the day before, she thought it only fair that I choose where to go today, and if my choice turned out to bore the both of us to tears I doubt that we'd ever get our minds off of those two missing kids.<p>

Those kids... I grunted as my thoughts drifted back to Smuggy and Leafy. I had no doubt in my mind that Samurott, Serperior, and Emboar would be just fine searching for them, but an underlying sense of dread continued to come back and haunt me. To be honest, I was a lot more worried about Woobat than the two kids. I knew something was wrong with the picture of Skuntank and his lot fighting her, but what that wrong thing was I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out. Sighing, I fiddled with the aura tassels hanging from my head.

"This isn't helping, is it?" Rose's voice cut through the silent easily, and I nodded.

"No," I said simply. "No, it's not. But we have to give it a shot. I might want to go after Team Skull worse than anyone else..." I rubbed at my knuckles, cracking them as I relished the thought of walloping Skuntank but good. It took a nosing prod from Rose to break myself from the reverie.

"Er..." I blushed in embarrassment. "But I'm trying to hold myself back as best I can, sudden slip-up aside, so we should at least try and have some fun." I tousled her headfur playfully, earning a light whack from a tail for my trouble.

"Well, I'm worried about those kids, still... but I'll try," She said, shaking her head a bit as the wall of palm fronds ended, revealing a spawling array of sand, straw mats (some occupied, some vacant), and beachgoers, to say nothing of the expanse of water that made up the ocean. I could feel a tiny amount of salty spray hitting my face even here at the edge of the beach, and I confidently stepped out onto the warm grains... only to yelp as a pinching claw of a Krabby grabbed onto my foot. Rose burst into peals of laughter as I lifted my leg, shaking it vainly as the bubble-blowing crustacean hung on tight.

"Pffhahahaha... Bill, stop," She said, trying hard to speak through her amusement. "Wait a second, that's not how you get a Krabby to let go of you!"

My eyes closed from the pain, which was surprisingly irritating. How a steel type could have a simple pinch feel like a terrible itch that was out of reach was beyond me. "Well, if you have an idea, then help me, please!"

"Well, then let's find a place to sit down so that you don't fall over in the middle of it," She replied, and she spritely skipped over to an empty patch of straw, its edges slightly buried in the dune. As I sat down, I didn't see her playful smirk, but what I felt was a lukewarm crackling around my foot, and the pain suddenly increased, making my eyes water as they shot open to reveal a small flame being emitted and sustained by Rose, lightly grazing both my foot and the Krabby. The heat, while painful, seemed to do the trick, as the crab released his hold on me, flailing in the air like a ragdoll until he crashed onto the sand and scuttled away, angrily blowing bubbles all the while.

"Ow..." I said lamely, massaging my all-but-numb foot with my paws, and Rose let out a chuckle.

"Um..." A meek voice came from behind us. "It would have hurt less if you had used warm water instead of warm fire."

I turned around, eyes shut as I continued to rub the pain away. "So I could have just stood in the seawater and it would have been fine?"

"Er, yeah, mister Bill."

My eyes opened in surprise at the formal address, but the sight five paces away was enough to curl my lips into a smile. "Vaporeon!"

"H-hi, you two," His tone was much shyer than it had been the day before, and he seemed reluctant to come any closer. Rose cocked her head.

"What's wrong?" She asked gently. Vaporeon, to my confusion, stealthily looked both ways before leaning in a teeny-tiny amount.

"Um... I, uh... nothing!" He stumbled over his words as he tried to answer the simple question. I blinked, then shrugged. There was obviously something wrong, but there was no need to pressure him after his part in the debacle yesterday.

Unless... "Are you still thinking about yesterday?"

This time his response was much more natural, shaking his head no. "Uh-uh, not at all. It's..." He trailed off again, and I shifted my sitting position so I wouldn't strain my neck. "Well, can you two _please_ not bring attention to me being here?"

It clicked. "You're supposed to be overseeing the hot springs."

He winced. "Yes, and... oh, man..." He lightly kicked the sand behind him, engulfing a small patch of beach plants in a miniature dust cloud. "I just... it's just so exhausting to do it, day in and day out."

"Yeah, I can get that," I said, patting one of his ears. "Coming here and taking a break is probably a good thing, then - break the monotony and all that."

"Mm-hm, that's what I'm doing," He said, trotting forward to lay down in-between Rose and I. As Rose wrapped a couple tails over him, I couldn't help but notice that we quite positively dwarfed him - he really was a young kid. "It's really is tiring, having to lug those bath salt barrels around, dumping some in when people visit and all that. I..." He sighed, contemplating his front paws. "I'm just not very strong."

I did a double take. "Not very strong? I'd doubt that," He looked at me oddly, and I shrugged. "Well, you did launch Team Skull over the entire spring wall with a digging attack. Anyone able to do that would have to be pretty strong."

He let out an 'eep' and seemed to glow with satisfaction. "Um... I, uh... thanks, mister Bill."

"Well, we all seem to be here for the same reason," Rose piped up cheerfully. "We're all here to take a rest and relax. So let's all do it together!"

"What were you two planning on doing before I interrupted?"

Rose tensed, quietly thinking to herself for a few brief moments. I picked up the slack. "Rose and I had just got here when you popped up."

"Oh." The reply was brief.

The awkwardness hanging in the air was almost palpable, Vaporeon daintily toying with a small rounded shell he had uncovered, and I scrambled for another conversation topic. "So, um... I guessss since we spent all day in water yesterday, why don't we stay here and you tell us about the island?"

Vaporeon's entire persona changed, becoming much happier, and the hint of a grin appeared on his face as he spoke. "You mean me...? Tell you about the Marine Resort?"

"Yeah!" I stated brightly, winking as I gave him a thumbs-up gesture. "Rose and I know hardly anything about it aside from what Lopunny told us last night. It'd be good to hear it from a local!" I glanced at Rose, who nodded, smiling. I smiled back.

Vaporeon's face stretched out wide as he stood up and turned around to face Rose and I. "Well... where to start?"

"Sorry, kid," A gruff voice seemed to float from nowhere, and all our faces fell. "But I'm going to have to cut this short. 'Ficcial business."

Within a few loud, sandy stomps, a large fiery pig stood behind us. Ninetales and I jumped up immediately after we recognized him. "Emboar!"

"Hold your tails, buckos," He muttered. "I'm gonna need you two to come with me."

"Did you find Skull?" I asked, refraining from mentioning anything else, for Rose's sake. Vaporeon's eyes widened, and I realized my error in judgment too late. So much for the 'going-on-a-walk' idea.

"Not... exactly," Emboar half-glanced behind him, gesturing with his arm, and I noticed two small dribbles of green peering out from behind his stocky legs. I understood.

"Where are we going?" Rose questioned, her voice a cross between relieved and curious.

"'Rott and Serperior are meeting with Elder Tropius right now, discussing everything that's happened. I think it's high time we all stopped going on wild Swanna chases and started getting answers."

I thought briefly. So we were finally going to be able to get some questions answered. Maybe we'd get to talk about the island after all. "Lead the way."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This chapter is a disappointment to me in every sense of the word. It's filler at the core, it's short, and it's stalled my progress on this fic long enough. Time to get cracking.**


	5. Determination

Emboar all but smashed down the door to the meeting hall as we arrived, his large fist probably crushing the doorknob. He turned to all of us following him - Smuggy, Leafy, Rose, Vaporeon, and I - and put a gruff look on his face, ignoring the large, oddly-shaped bundle of cloth that seemed to be stuck to his back. How? I didn't know.

"I need to talk to Samurott and Serperior first. Shouldn't take too long. Just wait out here until I come get you." And with that, he closed the door (much more gently than he had opened it, I might add). Smuggy and Leafy hid behind my legs, while Vaporeon stood off to the side, aloof. I half-glanced at Rose, who seemed oddly downcast. I ambled over to her side and ruffled her headfur, draping it over her eyes. She shook her head wildly to try and fix it, but only made her hair more messed up. Letting out a huff, she blinked expectantly at me.

"Well, you got your wish. Those kids got found," I said comfortingly, gesturing towards the pair of Snivy who adorned my feet, and Rose sighed, silently nuzzling into my paw in response.

"Thanks... but I don't feel all better just yet."

"Yeah... we still have things to do," My eyes narrowed slightly. "I guess we're a part of this now whether we like it or not, huh?"

"Mmph," Rose grunted softly. I shrugged, sitting myself down onto the ground, which caused the Snivy to release themselves from my ankles and plop themselves down into a bundle of Rose's tails. I chuckled.

"So, what have you two been up to, eh? We were worried about you," I addressed the kids, trying to strike up a conversation to hopefully brighten the gloomy atmosphere. One of them - Leafy, I think - peeked his head from under a stray tail.

"We... um... wanted to find those bad guys you were talking about..." He shied away, mumbling most of his sentence before huddling under Rose's tails. Leafy still hadn't even shown his face. I sighed, massaging my temple. Rose poked her muzzle into the large pile of fur, eventually nosing out both the twins. They both attempted to hang onto one of the few tails still in their grasp, but she nudged them away gingerly.

"Come on now, you two. Don't worry, we're your friends..." She spoke gently as so not to spook them. "Don't you remember? We met you late yesterday morning and saw you again early that night."

Smuggy cocked his head, then gave us the tiniest smile you could possibly imagine. "Oh... I remember you two. You came to talk with mom and dad about the bad guys. Those mean Pokemon that..." He shivered. "They knocked her... out with one shot!"

"Bad guys?" I said. It made sense a few seconds later. "Oh, you mean Team Skull."

"Team... Skull?" Vaporeon piped up. "You mean those guys who spied on you at the hot spring? What would they have been doing near the Snivy kids? And who's 'her'?"

Rose and I gave each other a mutual look of unease as the information settled in. Thankfully, we were spared from having to ask for clarification by the sudden reappearance of Emboar, who gruffly waved us in.

"C'mon, get in here. You two especially," He ordered, eyeing Smuggy and Leafy. "Your parents are waiting to see you."

With a cry of joy and a surprisingly large jump, the pair dashed into the meeting hall. Rose, Vaporeon and I followed them inside at a far more leisurely pace.

"Mom! Dad!"

I couldn't help but have a huge smile burst onto my face as I saw those two kids crash headlong into their parents and start crawling all over them, while said parents tried their best to calm them down enough to bear-hug them. Definitely the funniest thing I saw that day, without a doubt.

...

Don't get me wrong, it was also incredibly heartwarming. I just thought the image was really funny, too. I felt Rose rest her head on my side softly, obviously relieved that at least one part of the whole matter had been resolved.

After the family of four had finally gotten their act together and given each other a big fat group hug, Serperior's face immediately turned stern.

"Where in the name of Arceus have you two been!" She said breathlessly, ignoring the fact that Smuggy was currently affectionately batting at her... ears... shed-skins... head things? I don't know, whatever. " Do you two have any _idea_ as to how worried we've all been?"

"We..." Leafy, who was the unfortunate recipient of his mother's stare, gulped. "We just wanted to..."

"Dear, hush. Scolding them, while perhaps appropriate, isn't going to get us anywhere," Samurott quickly gave Serperior a peck on the cheek before squatting down to his son's eye level. I wondered how Leafy could look straight at the menacing horn of his father's helmet and not flinch.

"Please, Leafy, and you too, Smuggy," His eyes flicked between the pair. "We need to know exactly where you were and exactly what went on there."

Smuggy hopped off of his perch on his mother's head and stood next to his brother, looking around the room as if searching for something. "Where's miss Woobat?"

I couldn't stop myself from blurting out "Woobat?", and everyone except Rose turned to look at me. Despite my courage of earlier adventures, it failed me, and I tried my damnedest not to tremble.

"Yeah! We would have come back earlier, but we... um... had trouble bringing miss Woobat with us."

Rose cocked a non-existent eyebrow. "Bringing her with you? Couldn't you have just asked her to come with you?"

"No, she was still knocked out from her fight with those bad guys you talked about last night," Leafy responded nonchalantly.

"Eh, shoot-" Emboar suddenly cut in, reaching behind him to grab the bundle of cloth that was strapped to his back. "I forgot to mention that. Sorry, Samurott."

The pig Pokemon knelt down and unrolled the blob of fabric, fold by fold until finally a blue fuzzy... something-or-other rolled out, limp and unmoving. I sucked in my breath as a pair of torn, mangled wings flopped themselves off of the top of the body. Rose and Vaporeon merely gasped in horror. "No..."

Samurott winced as he took in the still form of Woobat, who looked to be badly beaten... just about everywhere. Bite marks were easily noticeable around her wings, and bruises were surprisingly visible through her fur. It was a wretched sight. Serperior breathed heavily then flicked her head towards her children.

"Tell us everything. Now."

And so they did.

* * *

><p>"So... it was Team Skull after all. Agh," Samurott spat onto the oaken planks, his voice heavily laden with anger. "How could I have forgotten that Skuntank are both dark <em>and<em> poison types! How could I be so careless!"

Serperior slowly coiled around his seated form, humming a tune to try and calm down her loved one, who was currently teeth-gnashingly mad, and I was almost positive I could see a very noticeable vein pulsing on what little of his forehead was visible. Rose walked up next to me, and I instinctively placed a paw in between her ears, taking care to not ruffle her headfur. It simply wasn't the time. As Samurott waged an internal war with himself, Emboar picked up the slack. "I dunno what they're planning, but obviously they're going after some kind of treasure in there."

"Do you think they could be after the bath salt stones?" Vaporeon piped up. "They're valuable, aren't they?"

"Well, of course that's an idea, but what for?" Emboar asked. "Real bath salt stones are only about double the worth of normal bath salts and much harder to get. If they really wanted to make some cash, they could have just stolen a bunch of salts and been on their way."

"But... that can't be right! My dad was a former miner and he always told me how valuable real bath salts were!"

"Vaporeon..." A quiet, somber voice beckoned from a small, curtained indent in the wall, and slowly but surely a large form stepped out. "Your father, rest his soul, was quite... _infamous_ for his sentimentality."

Now that I saw him up close, I was surprised at how much of an air of grandeur Elder Tropius had. A large brown body, wreathed in layer upon layer of thick green leaves, hid what amounted to a great deal of solid muscle, and his gigantic four palm-frond wings were certainly nothing to sneeze at. What struck me most was the size of his Nanab-growing beard - at his full height it still almost reached the floor. However long he had lived, he had certainly seen his fair share of events, perhaps even double. He turned to Rose and I, a wrinkly smile on his face.

"You two must be the ones I've heard so much about from Team Explorers," He started softly, and I felt myself glow a little under the praise. It was nice to hear a compliment every once in a while from someone who wasn't young and impressionable. "You've been causing quite a stir behind the scenes, haven't you?"

"Uh..." We both mumbled, abashed at his bluntness, no matter how kindly. I reached back to fiddle with my aura tassels. "I suppose you could say that."

The wizened Fruit Pokemon let out a bellow of coarse laughter, loud and somewhat grating on the ears, and most of the rest of the room did as well, bar Emboar and Samurott. Thankfully, Tropius cut himself off quickly as he sat down, leaning on his side as he continued to eye Rose and I with a curious expression.

"Well now, I suppose it's partially my own fault for not telling the truth," He sighed, looking up at the ceiling. He wanted to put this off for as long as he possibly could. "...I'm still not sure whether I should."

"You mean you lied, mister?" Leafy had recovered enough to start wandering around the group of Pokemon, and had found himself curled up snugly next to one of the massive elder's legs. His brother had other plans, already snoozing away next to his father. Tropius pretended to not have heard the wise little voice, and yelped loudly when the Snivy tugged hard on his fruitbeard. "Did you hear me, mister?"

"Erheh..." Tropius tried to catch his breath as he gently pushed the child away with a foot. "Not exactly. I did tell the truth, but... not the _whole_ truth."

Serperior removed herself from Samurott's presence, leering at the old Pokemon accusingly. "The 'whole' truth, Elder? I believe we made it quite clear when we arrived that there would be no secrets between us."

The Nanab-adorned Pokemon sighed deeply, a great frown gracing his features. "I understand, miss Serperior, but..." He trailed off, a distant look in his eyes. "This... this is a very serious matter that concerns more than just a simple criminal group."

"Elder Tropius..." Samurott suddenly interjected, his patience worn. "I have trusted you and respected your judgments thus far."

Tropius bowed his head at the sea lion, and the chief continued. "But whether you keep your secrets or not, someone will have to go after Team Skull to stop them, and it would be quite... preferable if we went in with all the information we could get."

An awkward silence reigned as tension filled the room. Emboar, Samurott and Serperior eyed their charge testily, the Snivy children slept peacefully, and Rose, Vaporeon and I looked elsewhere out of respect for the moment. However, after what felt like hours, Rose stepped up to the plate.

"Elder?" She spoke gently. "I realize you have concerns, but right now, Team Skull has broken a number of rules, not just the two for the festival, but also ones that all exploration teams are supposed to go by. While I don't think Bill or I really expected them to play nice, we need to bring them in."

"We're stronger than we were when we first fought them," I added, folding my arms on top of my chestspike. "It's not like before, when Rose and I were as green as green can get. We've had two years worth of work and too many adventures to count."

"Two years..." Tropius latched onto the words like a lifeline. "Hah! Two years... that's when it all started..."

"Sir?"

"Very well, I'll tell you what you want. But it will take some time, so you may as well get comfortable." Tropius coughed before shifting around a bit. "And one more thing..."

As Rose and I seated myself on the hard floor, Vaporeon cocked his head. "What would that be?"

"You must keep everything I tell you to yourselves. This information was secret for a reason, and though I have to tell it to you all now due to circumstances out of my control, I can't let this become public knowledge." Tropius eyed me, then turned his steely gaze towards everyone else, even the Snivy twins, and I wasn't entirely sure whether he realized they were asleep or not. "It's... it's for the good of the island."

Everyone present curtly nodded, and Tropius's expression softened. "Like I said... it all started two years ago..."

* * *

><p>"Trop?" A gruff voice called from outside the curtain of trees. The lordly Pokemon raised his head, a twinkle in his eye.<p>

"Yes, Flareon? Do come in," Tropius replied amicably as a fuzzy head peeked inside. "What do you need, friend?"

The red-and-tan furred fennec slowly limped inside, looking in wonder at the small collection of trinkets and doodads that hung from the branches of the elder's forested home before staring up at the paltry black bandanna that adorned his head. Spitting out a hunk of pasty white rock, he spoke again. "Well, sir, it's about the iron miners. They say they've found something they've never seen before."

Tropius's eyes narrowed as he craned his neck downward to look at the strange stone that had been placed before him. "...what is it?"

"The miners found it pretty deep within the tunnels they've been digging. I've really got no idea what it is," Flareon coughed hoarsely, eyes beginning to water as he spoke again. "Ach... sorry about that. All I can tell ya is that it makes my throat and nose feel terrible whenever I breath near it. Smells salty, too, but mostly just burns."

"Burns?"

"Not the time to be punny, Trop."

"Fine," The Fruit Pokemon braced himself, then took a deep whiff of the air around the strange slab. His eyes widened and he immediately went into a coughing fit, prompting Flareon to immediately smack the stone away with his large tail. After a few seconds, the elder had calmed down, though his eyes still watered greatly.

"See what I mean, elder? From what I can think of this thing seems useless. I'll chuck it into the sea and tell the miners to just avoid it if they see it." Flareon made to grab the stone again and quickly leave, but Tropius lay a leafy wing on him, the weight of it stopping him in his tracks.

"Don't be so hasty, Flare," Tropius said, nudging the white rock with a bulky foot. "While I do admit that it's quite strong on its own, surely it could be used for all those Pokemon that fall ill during the colder months? I'm certain that the stone would at the very least clear their minds, if not the rest of their heads!"

Tropius chuckled at his own joke as Flareon rolled his eyes. "I'll get a couple of the miners to toy with it on their off time. I suppose you're right; at least something has to do something to it."

"Thank you, Flareon," Tropius said warmly, and he nodded a goodbye as the fire type made his way out of the clearing. "And tell your son that I said hello!"

* * *

><p>"Tro!" Flareon excitedly exclaimed as he burst through the overgrowth, both abruptly waking Tropius and startling a number of flying types that had been nesting high in the trees. "You're not gonna believe it!"<p>

"Hmmhmm... haaah, what is it, Flare?" Tropius yawned, barely getting his message across. The brown sauropod lazily left his bed of grass, stretching his neck as he plucked a large apple from a tree above. Flareon spat something out in front of him, and Tropius realized that it was the white stone from a couple of weeks ago. His eyes widened. "Wait..."

"My son, Vaporeon, you know him right? I was keeping the stone in a hidden spot in our little hut and he had found it and was playing with it in the hot spring outside of the village and I was about to scold him and fish it out but-"

"Steady on, Flare!" Tropius laughed at the veritable river of words that were flowing from his good friend's mouth, and quickly bumped another tree hard with his head, sending a shower of apples onto the poor fox. "Slowly now, I didn't catch a word you said!"

Flareon's head popped out of the bushel of apples, shaking a bit in mirth. "Alright... alright, sorry, Tro. It's just that this is big. _Big_ big."

"I can tell. But first, would you eat some lunch? It's almost noon and goodness knows you're probably hungry. Vaporeon tells me all the time how you never seem to eat breakfast."

Flareon freed himself from his prison of fruit, somewhat embarrassed. "He noticed that? I've been so busy keeping track of the miners that it gets distracting sometimes. Two went missing yesterday."

Tropius's face turned grave. "Missing?"

Flareon nodded as he dug into an apple. "Mmhm. Almost a day now. We've had a few groups of off-duty miners scour all the tunnels we've dug thrice over, but there's been no sign of 'em."

"Hmph," Tropius grunted. It wasn't common for miners to go missing, even in slower times... He stashed the thought in the back of his mind as Flareon gulped down another swallow of food. "So what was it that you were meaning to tell me?"

The Flame Pokemon's jet-black eyes grew ecstatic as he pawed at the stone, a faint chalky layer of white rubbing off on his fur. "Well, I've been keeping this stone in a hidden spot near our hut so that he wouldn't go and play with it, but he found it anyway and brought it to that old heated pond just outside of the village."

"Yes?" Tropius couldn't keep himself from trembling a little bit in anticipation. "What happened?"

Flareon dug his paws into the ground a little bit to clean them of the residue, then continued. "Well, he ended up forgetting about it after he played in there, so I only found it when I went to take my own bath an hour later. I did have to scold him for taking it, but that bath... I don't know what that rock did, but I'm sure it was because of it!"

"What did it do?"

"I don't know how to describe, but after I dried myself I felt more rejuvenated than I have in years. I felt... well, healthy! Even my old sore leg wasn't bothering me nearly as much as it usually does!"

Tropius's face broke into a wide, giddy grin. "So it reacts with hot water? Interesting... this could be a good thing to mine and export along with the iron we normally send to the mainland!"

Flareon's smile faltered. "The... mainland, sir?"

Tropius cocked his head. "What about the mainland, Flare?"

"You haven't heard, sir? The port we normally deliver to sent a message with the last shipment of goods. Supposedly they're dealing with a dangerous thief."

"A thief?"

"Supposedly..." Flareon looked both ways before leaning in close. "Supposedly he's stealing Time Gears!"

"_What?_" Tropius exclaimed. "Who would dare steal such sacred relics?"

"I don't know, but for the time being they wanted to let us know about him. Apparently a really famous freelance explorer is on the case, but it will take time. For now, we should just hunker down and mine more of those rocks!"

* * *

><p>The small town that served as the main area of the Marine Resort was normally rather quiet, a stark contrast from what most newcomers thought. The tourists (few as there were nowadays, what with the crisis on the mainland and all) spent most of their time either at the hot spring or the beaches.<p>

Which was why it was such a surprise to see (and hear) a loud green blur hover above the village, eventually stopping at a house at the edge of the area.

"Flareon!" Tropius bellowed as he stomped into his friend's modest hut. "We need to talk."

The Pokemon in question was currently playing a game of chase with Vaporeon, though he skidded to a halt as the great elder entered his house. "Go on, Vaporeon, go on and play with your friends. Elder Tropius and I have to talk."

"Alright, dad! See you later!" The blue finned evolution nodded goodbye as he dashed out. Tropius watched him go.

"Flare, I've been hearing rumors being tossed around. _Apparently..._"Tropius turned an accusing eye towards Flareon. "Pokemon have been talking about a thief on the mainland. You wouldn't have let your tongue slip, would you?"

Flareon looked away. "...I had to let the dock workers know, elder. It wouldn't do to have them wondering why we had guards down there on shift all day and night. They might have thought up more outlandish rumors than a thief."

The sauropod sighed, frustration written all over his face. "I understand that, and I trust your judgment. But how is it that the villagers found out that he's stealing Time Gears?"

Flareon's head snapped forward. "What? I said nothing about that little detail!"

"I might also mention that there's suddenly rumors of a great treasure hidden on this island, something hidden in the mines. While that's unrelated, do you understand the severity of our current situation?"

"How..." Flareon groaned loudly, placing his front paws over his eyes. "How could this have happened? I swore all who knew about the thief to secrecy and now he might think of coming here!"

Tropius softened, letting a wing gently droop over his good friend. "I don't know whether it was intentional gossip or whether it just slipped out. Either way, we have to keep calm. Tell me, what has been happening in the mines?"

Flareon's frown only deepened. "Many things. We've had reports of rockslides, minor quakes, and even more Pokemon have been disappearing. It's almost as if-"

He suddenly quieted, and Tropius glanced at him from the corner of his eye, concerned. "Almost as if what?"

The grim look he saw could have convinced anyone that he had seen a ghost. "I've heard something new from the mainland. Apparently time's starting to stop in places there."

"The Time Gear Thief, you mean?"

"Maybe. But the places that don't get frozen... they," Flareon tried to gulp down the knot in his throat. "They become mystery dungeons."

Tropius went rigid, and for what felt like years there was a dark, foreboding silence. "We must evacuate the mines and send our strongest Pokemon to rescue any of the missing. Immediately."

Flareon grabbed his black bandanna off of his straw bedding, carrying it between his teeth as he did as best of a salute as he was able. "You don't think that the mines really _have_ become a mystery dungeon... have they?"

Tropius turned his gaze to the sky.

"We can only hope."

* * *

><p>"Hope wasn't good enough."<p>

Tropius perked up at the noise, the pessimistic statement throwing a cloud over his previous glee. He had tasked the rest of the villagers, mostly the rock types and water types, to try and figure out a way to create bath salts out of normal stones. Last he had heard, they were confidently on the cusp of breakthrough. He turned his head towards the entrance to his clearing, now paved with flat, sanded stones, and gasped. "F-Flare!"

The black-bandanna-wearing fox moaned in pain as the Clefable that carried him gently set him down in front of their leader, gasping as one of his legs touched the ground. The hind half of his body was wrapped in crude bandages, and one of his legs - his old sore leg, Tropius realized - was bent at a very unnatural angle. It was almost too difficult to look at.

"The mines have morphed into a mystery dungeon." It wasn't a question. "Clefable, leave us alone for a moment. And plug your ears if you decide to stay close?"

The pink Pokemon bowed for a moment before toddling a distance away from the clearing. Flareon cleared his throat.

"The rescue team went in strong, and it was simple at first, there weren't even any hostile Pokemon for a few hours in. But..." Flareon growled weakly, but soon gave up, realizing he was in no position to do anything other than talk. "Pelliper got taken out by a rockslide... and those Ambipom brothers got knocked out by an earthquake..."

"Where are they? And did anything happen to the rest of your team?"

Flareon let out a violent cough, spitting out of instinct afterward. "They're in the makeshift infirmary down in the village. All of them got knocked out the further we went. I was the only one left when I made it to what I think was the end of the dungeon."

Tropius's heart soared with new optimism. "Yes? And what did you find there?"

"It was at the very bottom of the volcano, lava everywhere... but the only thing that really stood out was... a blue light."

"Blue... light?" The elder's voice wavered.

"Yes," Flareon sighed, dejected. "I couldn't make out what the light was coming from, but as soon as I saw it I felt something smash into my legs, and I blacked out. When I woke up I was outside of the cave with everyone else."

Tropius clicked his tongue, walking over and gingerly sitting next to his friend, whose eyes burned with a smoldering anger.

"I... I can't do _anything_ anymore without my legs! I'm crippled... I can't even _move!_" Flareon exhaled a burst of flames, searing the tips of the grass. "Damn it... damn it all!"

The fox burst into tears, and Tropius stood.

"I'm going to inform the village of what's happened and consult with the villagers on a new course of action," Tropius walked out, noticing Clefable outside a few feet away. She had her paws stuck in her ears, and the great elder gently nuzzled her forehead, drawing her attention. "Clefable, will you watch over my home and Flare while I'm gone?"

The pink Pokemon nodded. "Sure thing, sir! You can count on me!"

The Fruit Pokemon smiled sadly as he flapped his wings, the air circulating as he dashed off towards the settlement below. "I know you will, my dear. Thank you."

* * *

><p>"Do you see why I couldn't tell anyone about what Flare saw?" Elder Tropius concluded his story, staring straight at the floor. My paw had unconsciously wrapped around Rose's, and I couldn't help but hear quiet sobbing coming from behind me. My heart went out to Vaporeon, even if I didn't really know what he was feeling. "If I had told the villagers about the blue light at the end of the dungeon, who knows how many more innocent lives might have been damaged trying to find it, whether they be exploration team or island native! I wasn't going to let that happen! Not after it happened to my good friend!"<p>

Emboar uncrossed his legs and stretched, a hundred little cricks breaking the silence. "I think that we understand that, old one, but I think that at this point there's no avoiding Pokemon getting hurt either way. Woobat's still unconscious and Team Skull's probably at the end of the mines by now, if they got that far. We need to act."

Serperior nodded. "Sir, while I realize you wished to protect your village, right now we need to send someone into those mines and bring Team Skull back."

"But what about the end of the dungeon? If Skull didn't make it through the entire mine, what happens then? Do I let them continue, risking their lives on my account?"

"With all due respect, elder Tropius, that isn't something for you to decide," I interjected as I quickly stood up, and Rose turned her head, looking at me carefully. "I want to go. They've already hurt too many Pokemon, some of them... close to me."

Rose blinked, and I kept talking. "I might hate them for what they've done to Rose and I in particular, but at this point that's not important. It's been almost two years since then." I balled my paws into fists. "We've got to stop them before they hurt anyone else. I'm not going to let them cause as much trouble to anyone else as they did to me... to _us_."

"Bill..." Rose walked up to me, nuzzling my side, and I wrapped her into a tight, comforting hug. I didn't care who was watching, and I didn't care what might happen later. I felt happy and warm, and also felt a paw on top of my head. I glanced upward at Samurott, who was grinning cheekily at me.

"With all due respect to _you_, Team Returners..." He chuckled, taking off his helmet as a tiny pair of ears peeked out from under it. He scratched at one as he continued. "Considering that you know more about Team Skull than anyone else here, I was planning on sending you anyway."

"Well." I deadpanned, growing a bit more serious. "I'm ready to go when Rose is."

"Vaporeon!" Elder Tropius called, and the still-sniffling boy stood up, staring his leader in the face. "Please lead Team Returners to the mines. I'm quite certain that you know the way."

After a brief moment of tension, the water type bowed his head. "Yes, elder Tropius.

Vaporeon beckoned Rose and I to follow him, and we chanced one last look at our direct superiors. Samurott looked confident, Serperior tended to her sleeping children, Emboar seemed to be winking, and Tropius continued to gaze at us with a sad smile. I gave them all a warm smile.

Vaporeon, Rose and I ended up walking for about an hour before he turned to us. "Please... would you two wait here for a moment? I need to get something." Before I could protest, he had already swiveled around and zoomed off. Sighing, I turned to Rose.

"Well, here we are. About to do another job, like you said you wanted to at the start of this whole thing," I gently teased, and she stuck her tongue out at me.

"I said I was worried about the Pokemon whose jobs wouldn't get done on vacation, not that I wanted to do a job," She smartly replied, flicking her head to get her headfur out of her face. "Besides... did you really mean what you said back there?"

"About what?"

"You know what I mean. Skull."

I sat down on the dirt path, draping my arms over my legs, and Rose trotted up next to me, curling her tails around the both of us. I was silent, letting my eyes droop for a brief moment before answering. "Don't get me wrong. I still don't like them. You know better than anyone that they pulled way too much shit on us to get my forgiveness easily, if at all."

Her aura changed to a frustrated gray, and I quickly wrapped an arm around her. "But right now I'm trying my best to get past that, because they haven't done anything particularly bad to you and I. They've hurt other Pokemon, though, and I'm certain that they would like a word or three with them."

"Bill... you never will let it go, will you?"

"I'll let it go once they stop barging into our lives."

"You know this is the first time we've seen them in over a year, so that's a lie and you know it."

I let a paw run across my face, pinching the fur at the bridge of my muzzle. "...I wish they hadn't done it. Any of it."

Rose licked my cheek, and I held her close again. "We can't change what they did, but we can try and stop them from doing it again, right?"

I smiled, the simplistic logic washing over my rattled nerves like a balm. "Yeah... yeah, we can!"

Vaporeon chose that moment to reappear, holding something in his mouth. Spitting it out onto the ground, he looked at us. "Um... are you two sure you want to do this?"

I nodded. "Rose and I had a little talk while you were gone... I think we're both as ready as we'll ever be."

"Then would you..." Vaporeon trailed off a bit before his eyes hardened in determination. "I'm going with you. Into the mines and all that."

"Are you sure about that, kid?" I said, cocking my head, and Rose reared backward a bit, surprised. "It's likely to be pretty dangerous in there."

"I... yes," He said, staring at the now star-dotted sky. "I admit that most of it is because I want to find what my dad saw down there. But if we're able to capture those outlaws in the process, then I want to help you do that too!"

I looked at Rose, who looked back at me, and shrugged. "Okay. We could use the extra help, I guess."

"Thank you!" Vaporeon burst into smiles, running up and nuzzling the both of us. "And, um, Bill?"

I blinked. "Yeah?"

"Would you mind helping me get that bandanna on?" Vaporeon gestured with his tail towards the thing he had brought with him. I walked past the boy and gingerly grasped the fabric, old and worn under my pawpads. I turned around and knelt next to the Bubble Jet Pokemon, wrapping it loosely around his neck as-

_**Giant cracks lining the walls of the cave**_

_** Dripping water and scurrying footsteps**_

**"Something's not right here..."**

_** Rocks spilling forth from dark crevices**_

_** Wounded Pokemon breathing heavily on the floor**_

**"You've got bigger fish to worry abou-"**

_** A lava-filled atrium heat rippling in the air**_

_** A bright blue light pierced by the top half of a star**_

** "EEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"**

The ear-shattering scream brought my mind back to the present, and I realized I was violently shaking. Vaporeon seemed to have gotten the bandanna on with Rose's help, and he was presently shoving me around alongside Rose. Breaking fully from my trance, I took in a deep gulp of the night air, and my two companions relaxed.

"Hoo..." Rose sighed, leaning on her haunches. "Don't scare us like that, Bill! We haven't even gotten into the dungeon yet!"

Vaporeon nodded in agreement. "What happened to you, anyway? You were tying the bandanna and then you suddenly just went nuts!"

I rubbed my nose, contemplating the vision I had just had. Who was that talking... and were we in the mines? "Rose, I just had a Dimensional Scream."

"What!" Her mood whiplashed faster than a Munchlax at mealtime. "What did you see?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself, but I think we were in the mines..." I closed my eyes, and my heart began to pound in panic. "We need to move, now! Vaporeon, lead the way!"

He nodded. "Follow me!"

He ran off, and Rose and I followed him, the three of us getting engulfed by the dark night.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry it took so long. I have no excuses. Seeing as I'm here I might as well mention that you can check my Deviantart account (SkyBlueFox) for a lot more background info on what goes into the writing process, if that sort of thing interests you.  
><strong>


	6. Dungeon

The mines were dry and full of dust, and I had to say I was honestly surprised at how fast one could wish for fresh air. I walked beside Vaporeon, holding a shimmering sphere of aura that illuminated the surrounding area with an eerie glow. Rose brought up the rear, making sure nobody tried to tail us. Giant cracks were visible in every wall, thick veins of ores mined long ago growing into dead-ends. I brushed a paw against a particularly deep cut in the stone, cold and uninviting. I frowned, shivering a bit.

"This place gives me the creeps."

Vaporeon's tail flicked. "I know what you mean. It was always so busy when I saw it when I was younger, but being all quiet like this..."

"Mmhm. Almost feels like a ghost... mine, I guess. It's just..." My eyes narrowed. "Feels way too empty to be a mystery dungeon."

"I wouldn't be so sure about empty, Bill," Rose responded quickly, and I swiveled around to find ourselves accosted by a large blue Pokemon, a glinting orb held tightly between her 'fingers'. Behind the Nidoqueen, I could see a medley of other Pokemon, too many types and species to bother counting at the moment. I growled, focusing energy into my paws to make my aura sphere stronger, and Rose's tails curled forward menacingly. "You're wrong. This is _definitely_ a mystery dungeon."

"Alright, Rose, Vaporeon. When I throw the aura sphere, we have to _go_," I said. Vaporeon cocked his head, trembling lightly.

"When you throw the aura sphere w-what?" His confused voice wavered as much as he did.

I chucked the thing at the ground, the resulting cloud of dust causing an outrage of confusion and panic among the cluster of wild Pokemon. Grunting in mild satisfaction, I turned tail, tugging lightly on Vaporeon's finned collar to alert him of our plan. "Move it!"

We ran, the tunnels darkening due to the lack of light, our hearts pounding as the smokescreen wore off and the enraged Pokemon chased us. The ringleader Nidoqueen roared, stomping hard onto the ground, sending a golden wave of power towards us, the strength of the attack crushing the stone underfoot. My eyes widened as the energy drew nearer and nearer.

"No... Quake incoming! Try and stick together," I yelled over the din, and shaped up another aura sphere to provide a light source. Rose and I both kept a good pace ahead of the attack, but Vaporeon lagged behind, obviously not used to such heavy exercise. I slowed a bit, reaching into the treasure bag for a seed or something that would speed the guy up... and found nothing. Not figuratively, either; literally there was nothing in our bag. I would have let my face droop into my paws were I not in the middle of running for my life.

"Shoot, I forgot we hadn't brought any supplies from home..." I muttered irritably under my breath. Rose's eyes widened, and I started running backwards, chucking my current aura sphere and forming yet another one. Vaporeon looked at me pleadingly, and my mouth flattened.

"Kid, don't yelp," I said, and I immediately picked him up, making a break for it. The three of us quickly ducked around a corner as the attack flew into the wall, shattering it to pieces as the landslide engulfed the unfortunate Pokemon. Unfortunately, the Nidoqueen arose from the rubble, steaming mad, and it grabbed the rocks, tossing them at us. I leapt backward as the rocks thudded into where I had been standing moments before, and I set Vaporeon on the ground, while Rose began to scratch at the ground as an intimidation tactic.

"Looks like we've got a fight on our hands..." I said, focusing the aura into my paws as I took a defensive stance. Rose growled, tiny licks of flame already shooting from between her bared teeth. "Vaporeon, you gonna be alright?"

When he didn't answer, I hastily looked behind me and did a double take when I saw he wasn't there. "What the... Vaporeon? Where'd you go?"

The Nidoqueen suddenly screeched in surprise as a veritable explosion of dirt burst around her feet, sending her careening into the ceiling, and with a loud crunch she fell to the floor, unconscious. Rose and I both blinked, shaken, before letting out a collective sigh, gasping loudly. I leaned forward, wiping my brow as I panted heavily.

"Holy... woah..." I was able to get out between each breath. "What... was that...?"

I felt a light splash of water against my face, and looked up to see a dirtied Vaporeon, tired but smiling. Wiping a paw down my face, I grinned.

"You... that was another digging attack, wasn't it?"

"I'm... not going to get knocked out this early in the dungeons," He nodded. His breathing was a bit shallow, but otherwise he seemed fine. Walking over to the fallen, I quickly began pulling them out and searching them for anything useful. Considering how understocked we were, I wasn't taking any chances. Rose padded over to me after she had had her fill of quiet rest. "So, there anything useful on them?"

"Not much, no," I replied casually as I freed a small pile of sticks from the grasp of some poor Meowth. Shoving them into the back, I searched further. "There's these sticks here, and the orb that the Nidoqueen had, but other than that it's just been junk so far."

"What kind of orb is it?"

Pulling the orb out of the pile of gravel, I peered into the shining depths of the thing. The bizarre words floating inside the thing were faint, but I could make out 'rollcall'. I smiled, a plan beginning to form in my head.

" Rose, Vaporeon, I've got an idea," I said, rubbing my paws together. "Who's up for a little item-hunting?"

* * *

><p>Rose slowly ambled through the tunnels, blowing flame every few seconds to keep a constant light. She lowered her nose to the ground, sniffing about for anything useful.<p>

_"Rose, you focus on looking for food and stuff like Oran berries. We'll last longer if we keep ourselves full and healthy."_

She narrowed her eyes, noticing something glinting in the dark. Slowly and carefully, she made her way across the room, the shiny something beckoning her. She stopped halfway, sneezing a bit from the dusty air, and blew a tiny ember at the item, smiling excitedly as she saw what it was: A half-buried treasure chest! The Ninetales ran forward, eager to dig it up.

"Even if I can't open it by myself, there's always something good in these things," She whispered to herself, scratching as best she could to try and free the box from its stony prison. She was so enthralled in her work that she didn't notice the cat behind her, and yelped loudly as something slashed at her side. Turning, she stared at the lithe frame of a Persian, his eyes eager for battle. "Oh, you wanna play, huh? Bring it on!"

She flung herself at the thing, her inner fire flaring up as she let loose a flamethrower. Her opponent swiftly dodged to the left, charging a blob of darkness that he spat back at Rose. It collided head on, but Rose weathered the attack as best she could, countering with a green energy ball of her own. The Persian let out a battlecry as he gracefully sidestepped out of the way, and pounced on his prey, quickly launching into a flurry of claws, each making their mark near-perfectly.

"Agh!..." Rose hissed as the fury swipes tore slight gashes into her midsection, and she jumped up, launching the cat off of her and into a wall, where he slid down in brief confusion. Rose took the opening, dashing forward and scoring a few quick hits onto her foe. Growling, the Persian shook his head, springing forward at the same time Rose did. The head-on collision was imminent... and then the Persian disappeared. Rose slid to a stop at the entrance to a passageway, feeling the ground shift under her, and her eyes flicked back and forth, searching for where the Classy Cat Pokemon had disappeared to. He wasn't anywhere in the room.

"And if he's not anywhere in the room, then..." Calling on her instinct as an explorer, she confidently looked towards the ceiling. "There you are!"

Unfortunately, she was a second too late, the Persian already descending upon her. He smashed hard into her head, flinging her into the tunnel, and let out a cruel laugh at her moment of ineptitude. Click.

Persian looked down, his mean expression morphing into one of pure horror as he heard the telltale noise of a trap being activated. A crude image of a Voltorb stared back at him.

Only a whimper of a cry for help left his mouth before he was engulfed by the fire.

Rose felt the heat from the explosion get absorbed into her body, swiftly rejuvenating her as she got her bearings. Pieces of rock and tiny tufts of tan fur littered the room as she reentered, and she frowned grimly. The Persian was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, that's the end of that," Rose sighed, adjusting her Pecha Scarf as she made her way back over to the treasure chest, taking care to _avoid_ the dangerous trap in the room. To her surprise and delight, she saw that the box had not only been unearthed, but the lock had been blown clean off by the force of the explosion, and when she peered inside her grin widened even more. It was a foodstash, probably belonging to the Persian she had just knocked out.

"Oran berries, Pecha berries, yeah, yeah!" She mumbled under her breath. "This'll do nicely."

Snapping the lid shut, she gingerly picked the small hoard up in her mouth and made her way back the way she came.

* * *

><p>I tiptoed my way through the room, trying to be as quiet as I could to avoid waking the huge thing up, swiping stuff from his mass of treasures all the while. The (quite possibly) smallest aura sphere ever provided a light, though I dared not move that particular paw. I felt a little bad, swiping what was probably this Slowpoke's stock of supplies, but I guessed that he just shoulda kept it better hidden.<p>

"Then again," I whispered cheekily to myself. "It's likely that he just doesn't care."

_"I'll look for things like seeds, in case of emergencies. Vaporeon, if you ever learn something from this, learn that after their partner, sleep seeds are an explorer's best friend."_

Plucking seed after seed out of the pile like a hungry bird, I shoved as much stuff as I could into the treasure bag, not sure whether to fill the whole thing up or not. Scouring the trove one more time, my eyes widened as I saw a snow-white pure seed peeking out from behind a scrap of paper, and I slowly reached out and yanked.

A loud clamor rang around the room as the Slowpoke's tail emerged from the depths of the treasure, junk and clutter crashing about and rolling every which way. I immediately froze, daintily holding onto the snoozing Pokemon's tailtip, before slowly, carefully, kneeling and laying it down as gently as I could. The pink lug rolled onto his stomach, legs straight in the air, but other than that seemed fast asleep. Turning around, I decided to take my leave before my bad luck decided to get worse, and bumped face first into a Slowking. We both flopped onto our backsides, rubbing at our sore noses.

"Ouch..." I moaned, the aching not unbearable, but certainly annoying. I looked up as the Slowking took in the sight of the mess, his expression changing from confused to angry. "I guess it's too late to clean all this up and get a slap on the wrist?"

"How perceptive of you," The regal Pokemon snarked, glowing brightly as it shot an energy pulse at me, and I pushed myself upwards into a backflip, the mental circle just barely missing my head. Landing squarely on my feet, I focused my aura into my paws, the soft blue sphere transforming into a shadowy pair of claws. As he sent another ring of psychic power my way, I dive rolled, getting behind him and slashing upwards, striking his unprotected back. The Slowking gasped in pain as he flew into the air with me, and he swiveled around, sending one more pulse my way before I could hit him again. Stuck in the air and unable to dodge, I braced myself for the inevitable impact.

It struck hard, my concentration going haywire as the dark blades emanating from my paws suddenly disintegrated, and I fell to the ground, befuddled. I looked at my opponent, who simply stood there, looking at his paw, and I stood up, dusting myself off. Staring at my paws, I focused hard, trying to reform the shadow claws, but each time I tried a jolt of pain ripped through my mind, ruining any efforts of using the move. I bared my teeth in frustration.

"Well?" The Slowking asked haugtily. "Are you going to stand there trying to use your disabled move all day, or are we going to fight?"

"You're out of your league!" I roared, dashing forward extremely fast and crashing into him, sending the both of us into a wall. As he tried to free himself, I immediately launched into a dangerous close-combat combination, each punch, kick, and tail whack taking as much out of me as it did him. By the time I had finished the assault, he had already fainted, Dark bruises already showing up. Taking a moment to catch my breath, I glanced over at the Slowpoke, jumping in slight surprise as he stared at me curiously. Hesitantly, I waved a brief hello before running off in case he decided he wanted a piece of me as well.

* * *

><p>Vaporeon walked through the halls, excited and more than a little nervous. In his mouth was a small bindle, cobbled together from his bandanna and one of the sticks they had found before. Inside lay a small collection of orbs, each one giving off a dim light.<p>

_ "Vaporeon, I want you to focus on finding orbs, just like this Rollcall orb. Now lemme just... there we go, now you can carry them. Oh, and take this one with you, since you don't have a natural way to make light. And don't forget, if you get into a fight that you absolutely cannot win on your own, don't hesitate about using it."_

"I guess I got lucky," He said to nobody in particular, scooping up another orb in the long trail of the things he had somehow happened upon while wandering aimlessly through the mines. His travels had been quiet, productive, and best of all, he had actually won a battle between a Plusle along the way! Feeling the bindle start to get heavy, he spat it out and started pawing through his take, putzing around with the Rollcall orb as he debated what to do. "Hmm... maybe I should get rid of ones I've got two of already... 'Drought' orb? I wonder what that does?..."

The ground trembled violently all of a sudden, an explosion going off somewhere else in the dungeon, and Vaporeon yelped, instinctively hugging the floor and covering his head with his paws. Thankfully the shaking stopped just as fast, and he opened his eyes, letting out a gasp as he saw a smoky ball rolling down the hall.

"No! The Rollcall orb," He cried in panic, biting down hard on his bindle as he chased after the runaway orb, nearly tripping over his own feet in his haste. Thankfully, he was much faster than the orb, quickly clamping it down to the ground with a paw, and he let out a sigh of relief through his nose.

"Phew..." He said, looking up as he bit down on the orb. His eyes grew as big as plates as his mouth began to water. Almost as if on cue, his tummy rumbled.

Staring at him was a large room, devoid of anything aside from three, huge, delicious apples. Jumping up and down in glee, he ran into the room, bindle left forgotten, and pounced hungrily on one of them. Gently spitting the orb out next to the fruity treat, he dug into it, savoring each juicy bite.

"Mmmmgh... huh?" The ground shook again, though not as greatly as it had done before. Chalking it up to an aftershock, the Bubble Jet Pokemon continued eating.

Then it shook again. And again. And again, twice more.

He looked up once more and gulped audibly, realizing that he was now being leered at by no less than _five_ big stony snakes, and none of them looked particularly happy that he was intruding on their food.

"So... we got a kid, eh?" One of them, a large Steelix, spoke smoothly, but with just the tiniest hint of malice. "Sometimes I don't even know why we bother ambushing in this place anymore."

Vaporeon shivered. "I-I'm sorry, s-sir. Please don't hurt me!"

"Idiot! You look like such a greenhorn. You didn't even bring any friends with you for us to rough up!"

The insult stung, and Vaporeon's eyes widened. He reached for the Rollcall orb.

"Don't worry," The Steelix's teeth curled into a smirk. "Next time maybe you'll be luckier."

"H... help!" Vaporeon slammed down hard on the orb, shattering it to pieces. It letting out a large flash, blinding everyone inside the room. The only things that Vaporeon could hear afterward were the sounds of battle, and an occasional quip.

"Hah, not so tough now, are ya?"

"Hey! What th-"

"Next time, pick on someone your own size!"

Soon, the uproar died down, and the room resumed its typical silence, save for loud crunching sounds. Vaporeon felt something lightly poke him, and, realizing that his eyes were shut closed, he looked up. A jackal and a nine-tailed fox smiled warmly at him, the latter sitting near the apples, the former holding his bindle.

"You okay?" Rose asked, concern in her voice as she nudged his apple towards him.

Vaporeon smiled, accepting the apple as he chowed down.

"Just fine."

* * *

><p>Almost five hours had passed since we had gotten into the mines, the treasure bag now full from our efforts. Having decided that we should stick together after Vaporeon's encounter with the monster house, the three of us strode confidently through a tunnel that looked particularly well-traveled, each winding path leading us deeper and deeper to our goal. I looked over to Vaporeon, who was panting slightly.<p>

"It feels like it goes on forever..." He said, and I chuckled.

"I can't see this place going on for much longer," I replied. "If this is a typical mystery dungeon, we should be getting near a place where we can rest. Hah, I'll race ya!"

I kicked off hard, getting a running start as I made my way through the caves. Vaporeon and Rose both stood there for a moment before chasing after me. The tunnel, for once, was actually completely straight, with not even a single offshoot to speak of, and I allowed myself a confident smirk. It drooped when Vaporeon suddenly passed me.

"He's faster when he's not running for his life, huh," Rose teased as she fell into step beside me, and I stuck my tongue out at her in mock annoyance. Laughing, we both ran after Vaporeon, the rock walls blurring together. Each step I took made my chest pound, and I breathed in and out as calmly as I could at the pace I was keeping. Seconds turned to minutes, and as we finally reached Vaporeon, Rose quipped, "Good thing we haven't run into any wild Pokemon so far, or this'd be over quick!"

I stopped, skidding across the floor due to my speed. "Wait a minute..."

"What's wrong?" Rose stopped herself a bit quicker than I had, and gently tugged on Vaporeon's tail to keep him from running too far away.

"We just ran that whole way and not one thing decides to attack us..." I began to pace back and forth. "Is this entire section of the dungeon deserted or something?"

Out of nowhere, a figure flew out from under us, missing us by a hair as it burrowed above our heads. Rose and I both recoiled from the sudden near-hit, and Vaporeon's eyes narrowed in fear.

"Wh... what was that?" He asked. I shook my head slowly.

"I have no idea."

The ceiling back the way we came suddenly broke to pieces, enormous chunks of stone raining down on our footsteps, and I instinctively grabbed both Rose and Vaporeon, leaping backwards as another hail of sharp, pointy death fell where we had been standing. After setting them back down I ran, Rose and Vaporeon following suit.

"What the hell?" I swore, dodging a slab of granite that came perilously close to my arm. "Is that thing trying to bury us alive?"

"No..." Rose said, her face screwed up in thought as she sped along. "I think it's trying to trap us in here!"

The caves far behind collapsed in on themselves, the strange Pokemon covering every inch of the dungeon with rockslides as it tried its best to shower us in rock. As we continued onward, I saw huge stones already standing in our way, tall and more than a little problematic. Looking down, my eyes widened as the ground below us began to change, tiny veins of orange and red forming and peeking out at us. Heat billowed underfoot.

"Oh no," I cut myself off as I burst into an extremespeed attack. "That's even worse."

Rose and Vaporeon noticed as quickly as I did, and they yelped in panic as it became evident that we were running atop a lava flow. Thinking on the fly, I chucked an aura sphere down the hall, lighting up the path, and my heart soared when it illuminated the nearest thing to an exit you could think of. My heart thudded faster than I had ever felt it, and as we reached the end of the passage I let out a whoop of joy. "We made it!"

As we burst into the newfound room, the figure from before shot out of the high wall like a bullet, and it nosedived into the floor, shooting away before any of us could stop it. And really, at this point, none of us wanted to do anything. I dragged myself over to a comfortingly familiar sight in the middle of the room.

"Oh..." I flopped against the front of the Kangaskhan statue, sliding down to the floor like a ragdoll. "Oh thank Arceus that's over..."

Rose curled up next to me, not even saying anything as she snuggled into my chest, panting heavily. Vaporeon, despite his exhaustion, was more vocal. "Bill, what's this thing?"

He pawed at the statue like it was a foreign object, and I smiled at his innocent expression. I knocked a paw against the belly of the thing. "This... this means we can take a break."

Taking the words to heart, the boy lay down, quite literally falling asleep as soon as he hit the ground. Ruffling his collar a bit, I turned to Rose, who was poked her nose at my neck, snoozing as well.

"And you, Rose?" I whispered, before giving her a quick peck on her forehead.

"She's asleep, dummy! Chaw-ha-h-" A rough voice spoke before transitioning into a loud coughing fit.

All my tiredness seemed to seep away as I sat straight up. "Skuntank?"

"Try looking behind the statue, kid."

Standing up, I walked towards the voice, taking a defensive stance just to be on the safe side... and winced. "Well, wow."

There was Team Skull, all three of its members accounted for, and all three members quite thoroughly walloped. Both Weezing and Golbat were on the ground, unable to even hover slightly, and Skuntank was belly up, a thick, scabbed cut on his midsection, the only drop of bright color a bright exploration badge held in his paws. Despite the terrible sight, I couldn't help but put on a grave smile.

"This feels familiar," I said, eliciting a tired laugh from the great fuzzy leader.

"Yeah," He spat, a trace of bitterness in his voice. "Yeah, it really does."

Silence reigned as we reveled in each other's presence, doing nothing as we waited for the other to initiate the inevitable conversation. I eyed my nemesis warily, and Weezing sighed.

"Since neither of you are going to talk to each other, I'll go first, then," He said quietly. "I guess you're wondering how we ended up in this mess."

"Mm. Yep."

The bulbous purple Pokemon did his best to flip around to face me, and I ambled over, helping him up. "We were doing just fine up til that tunnel. That... thing tried t' do the same thing to us that it did t' you!"

Golbat suddenly spoke up, "He dug that tunnel over again after he tried it on us. I don't know what his deal is!"

I blinked, confused. "He dug the whole thing up again?"

Skuntank grunted. "I tried goin' into the next room to see what was in there, but then that liddle Pokemon thrashed me and flung me here with the others."

"You went in?" I knelt down close, feeling somewhat anxious at my next question. "Did you see anything giving off a blue light in there?"

The big lug only shot a toothy smirk at me. "Why would I tell you that?"

I stood, throwing my paws up in the air in frustration, my annoyed expression giving myself away better than anything I could have said.

"Chaw-haw-haw!" Skuntank burst into coarse laughter, and soon the other two got into it as well, with their whoa-ho-ho's and their heh-heh-heh's. Sitting down on a rock jutting from the floor, I waited patiently as they had their fill, which was (mercifully) only a few short minutes. As the clamor trailed off, the Skunk Pokemon stared at me with his beady eyes.

"Well? Gonna finish us off?" He egged on, and I sighed.

"...No."

"Why not?"

It was less of a question and more of a statement, and it struck deep. I closed my eyes, thinking hard before answering. "If I killed you here, I'd be no better than you. Hell, I'd technically be worse than you, at least to my knowledge, and don't you dare tell me if you've killed anyone because I don't even wanna know."

Weezing let a puff of gas out, groaning. "Well, don't worry, we haven't had to stoop that low yet."

"My job as an explorer is to bring you three in as outlaws, not kill you outright. But right now I have more important things to worry about," I kept going, my emotion pouring out like a river breaking through the dam. "Like not getting my own hide killed by that _thing_ we all seemed to encounter."

"And?" Skuntank continued pushing me, and I grunted, getting up as I gave him a confident look.

I harrumphed. "Just use your badge and get out of here. And if our paths ever cross again, I'm turning you in to the authorities. Got it?"

"Good choice, goody-goodie," He smiled, holding up the badge, which began to glow with a strange power. "You've got bigger fish to worry abou-"

Before he finished his sentence, he was gone in a flash of light, his two cohorts following suit seconds afterward. Sitting back down, I toyed with my Aura tassels as I stared up at the ceiling. Feeling something warm and fuzzy wrap around me, I gave a small smile to Rose, who trotted up next to me. "How much did you hear?"

"From them asking you about finishing them off onward," She said, nuzzling my cheek affectionately. "You made a good decision."

I folded my arms, leaning backwards as Rose settled her head in my lap. My mind raced with the possibilities. Skull could come back to the island, try to do this whole stunt again. They could get arrested on their own. I might never see them again and never bring them in. They might manipulate another group of people like they did the guild years before. They could die some other way. "Did I?"

"I love you, Bill."

We lay there for what felt like forever, simply enjoying being in each other's company as we took what little solace we could in the depths of the mystery dungeon. Wrapping my partner into a close hug, I took in her scent, her Pecha Scarf intoxicatingly sweet, and felt warm... and happy. So, so happy. Soon, though, it had to end, as Rose asked, "What did Skuntank mean by 'bigger fish'?"

Taking that as my cue, I unwrapped myself from her and woke Vaporeon, explaining to them what little I had learned, and we strode off, walking the final stretch to what would probably be a fight of our lives.

"So we've reached the end of the dungeon, huh..." Vaporeon said, shivering. "Sure does feel like it, now."

I chuckled. "So, how was your first exploration, Vaporeon?"

He thought for a moment. "It was... nice."

"Well, it's not over ye-" I cut myself off as we entered a gigantic chamber, full of magma falls and half-melted stone everywhere.

"Holy..." Rose said, an uncharacteristic almost-curse coming out of her mouth. "We must be at the very heart of the volcano!"

The heat was nearly unbearable, and I immediately began to pant loudly. Vaporeon seemed to feel the same way, his body taking on an unhealthy gleam from perspiration. Rose, on the other hand, reveled in her natural environment. As we took a few more steps forward, Vaporeon took in a deep breath.

"Bill, look... there's that thing that was chasing us before," He gestured with his nose at a small, somewhat-unrecognizable figure curled up at the base of an altar, and from what I could tell it was currently snoozing away. I felt Rose poke my back with her tails, and I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye.

"Bill, look at that," She, on the other hand, gestured upward with her nose, and as I followed with my own eyes, my jaw dropped open as the blue light engulfed my vision.

"No... that's impossible!

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Not particularly long, but much more action-y than any of the other chapters, and I'm proud of myself for what I think is my first well done dungeon crawl scene.**

**Of course, I had to leave it at a cliffhanger for you guys. Want a hint? Watch the night scene after arresting Drowzee.  
><strong>


	7. Dance

Waves of heat rippled through the air as molten rock poured down from every dent in the walls, the conical point of the mountain lopped off by some great force. A tiny pinprick of light shined above us, though diluted by sputters of ash higher up the cavern, illuminating the great altar that Rose, Vaporeon and I now beheld with slackened jaws and racing minds.

It wasn't the altar itself that was so incredible, though I did have to admit that it was a spectacular piece of natural stoneworking. A miniature volcano, in fact, rose from the bed of undisturbed magma, almost like the fountain in the plaza of the village. Peculiarly, not a drop of lava ran down the front of the altar, allowing for a strange peg to jut out from the middle of the mound of rock.

And neatly fitted onto that peg sat a bluish-green circle, six indents made equally spread across its sides. It glowed with a blue light.

We had found an honest-to-goodness Time Gear.

"But that... this is impossible!" Rose said, aghast. "You, Grovyle and I all collected the Time Gears and brought them back to Temporal Tower!"

"How...?" I asked, my voice sounding distant in my ears. "Did... did something happen? Again?"

I walked forward as if in a dream, entranced and troubled by this new development. Had the Time Gears been removed from Dialga's realm? Had Grovyle not collected them all in the first place? "Rose... what do we do?"

My partner closed her eyes, deep in thought. "I... I don't think we should mess with it. Knowing what happened the last time someone messed with the Time Gears..."

My mouth flattened grimly as we both remembered the trials and tribulations that had occurred during the Primal Dialga Crisis. I didn't want anything like that to happen ever again, and especially didn't want to be the one to cause such a destructive event. Nodding in agreement, I took a quick step back from the small foothold of the universe. "Then I guess we're done here?"

"You guys?" Vaporeon cut in. "What's the thing under the blue light?"

We all ambled over to the arcane monument, and Vaporeon poked at a strange mound of hay and dead grass, a strange Pokemon sleeping soundly with his head on top of a book he probably used as a pillow. I immediately slipped into a defensive stance, pulling Vaporeon back. Rose nodded, her posture stiffening.

"Vaporeon, I think that's who was attacking us before." She remarked. The boy wilted, and I gave a once-over to our former assailant. A small mole-ish Pokemon, only about half my height, brown fur nearly covered his entire body, save for a few red blotches here and there. A white snout, tipped with a healthy pink nose, breathed in and out quietly, covered by a large, jagged slab of curving metal. His claws were similar, menacing steel blades covering the ends of his arms. I felt myself began to pant double-time, both from the heat and from the sight of such a dangerous thing, and stepped backward.

"I've... never seen a Pokemon like this before," I said, rubbing at my nose with a paw. "Not once before in my life."

Rose padded around in circles, quiet for a brief moment. "Do you think that we should wake him up, or should we just leave?"

"I don't know, Rose..." I trailed off, staring at the Time Gear. "This... this is too much to handle right now."

Rose walked over to me, wrapping her tails around me comfortingly, and I gave her a weak smile, tousling her headfur in response. We both glanced upward at the grand treasure of Dialga, blocking out everything but it and ourselves.

"I never thought I'd see one of these things again..." I whispered. "I didn't really want to, after what happened..."

"I remember rumors back before of Time Gears being hidden everywhere, in a forest, a cavern, a volcano... I guess we must have missed one."

Rose shook her head, and I looked at her. "What's wrong?"

"What happens if this one gets messed with? If we take it, will time stop on the island?" She gave me a look of sadness. "We can't risk that. Couldn't we just go meet Dialga in the Hidden Land and tell him about this?"

I gave her a deadpan look. "Oh yes, that would go over well. Fight our way through the god of time's giant house and tell him, _'Hey! We missed one!'_ That would go over great."

Rose frowned at me, and I ran my paws over my eyes. "Sorry for being mean... it's a good plan, it's just..."

We both broke from our trance when a quake rocked the room, sending Rose and I sprawling onto the floor. Bits and pieces of stone from above rained down into the viscous lava, melting on contact, and I quickly picked myself up, dusting myself off before helping my partner. Looking over at Vaporeon, my eyes widened in shock and panic.

"What did you do?"

The Pokemon from before was now staring us in the face, a terrified look plastered on his face. Vaporeon jumped back, hiding timidly behind my legs as another small shake sent waves through the lake of liquid death.

"He... he just woke up! I didn't do anything at all," Vaporeon blurted out, repeating it quietly to himself like a mantra, and I knelt down to the frightened mole's level, reaching outward with a friendly paw.

"I... Excadrill?" The mole said shakily, raising his head carefully as he eyed us with suspicion, and he pointed a claw at me. "You?"

"Hey there... uh, Excadrill," I said, as kindly as I could under the immense pressure. "We're not here to hurt ya..."

"Thief?"

I shook my head a little harder than was probably necessary. Was this guy just a baby? "No, we're not thieves. We just want to-"

Excadrill waved a claw at me, turning angry. "Mine," He pointed at the Time Gear and started jumping up and down, each stomp shifting the ground under us. "Thief! Thief! Thief!"

Before I could say anything else, he had covered his head with his claws, turning into a living drill as he dug into the path and shot forward, sending Rose, Vaporeon and I flying. I hit the wall hard, stunned slightly, and slid down, falling on my face. My partners were luckier, landing on their feet and sliding backwards. As I stood up, Rose went on the offensive, running forward and shooting a ball of fire at the speedy thing. Making a ninety-degree turn, he neatly dodged the flamethrower and started moving in a wavy zigzag to throw off her timing.

"A fight. Go figure," I grumbled, reaching into my bag and pulling out a handful of blast seeds. I began to toss each at Excadrill, the small jets of fire scorching his fur as they made their mark. Excadrill, changing tactics, swerved around and started drilling his way towards me. My mind raced as he got closer and closer, and I immediately took a step left, making to do a dodge roll.

As the mole curved to the left, I did a backflip in the opposite direction, smirking as the mole was temporarily disoriented, popping out of the ground before he reached the lava. Reaching into the bag again, I began to shuffle through the few orbs we had, pulling out one that faintly contained the word 'drought'. Unfortunately, before I could use it, Excadrill noticed my position and began to run towards me, his claw reflecting the red lava. Thinking fast, I sighted Vaporeon.

"Vaporeon, catch!" I called to get his attention, and as he looked at me I chucked the Drought orb as hard as I could, and I braced myself as Excadrill jumped at me, swinging his claws.

I winced as the tips dug hard into my back, and I instinctively swiveled on my heel, sending a good punch into the mole's chest. His eyes bulged as his breath suddenly caught in his throat, and he stumbled backward. Looking behind me, I saw that Vaporeon had snatched up the Drought orb just before it rolled too far away, and watched him smash it hard against the wall, shattering it.

"What does this do, Bill?" He asked above the din of battle, and a bright beam of golden light pierced through the volcano's cone, the harsh sunshine fierce enough to evaporate every drop of magma in the room, if at least only temporarily. As the room's safely-traversable area began to increase, Excadrill stared in shock and awe at the sight, before growing even angrier.

"EEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" His childish was ear-piercingly loud, and all three of us couldn't help but slam our paws over our ears in pain. Excadrill's frustration boiled five times over, and he tunneled into the no-longer-deadly ground, a flurry of dust left in his wake.

Before I could react to the simplistic mistake in my plan, he burst out of the ground and slashed me with his claws, knocking me into the wall where I slumped over, barely hanging on to consciousness.

As Vaporeon yelped, making his way over to me to help me recover, I heard Rose roar angrily, quickly darting across the room as she formed a sphere of natural energy, shooting it at the ground between me and our foe. As the mole toddled away to avoid the attack, my partner pounced, biting down hard on Excadrill's arm, and he cried out, stomping down hard on Rose's footpaw.

She screamed in immense pain as the ground underfoot shook hard, the earthquake attack badly damaging her, and she let loose an enormous plume of flames. Her target, however, had already dug his way out of her grasp, and the fire left nothing but blackened rock. "Shoot!"

Vaporeon dug an Oran berry out of my bag and shoved it into my mouth, and as the juice of the fruit dribbled down my throat, I felt my stamina returning. As I wolfed down the rest of the berry, Rose bounded to the side, narrowly avoiding contact with Excadrill, who shot out of the ground in his drill form. Dusting myself off, I stood up, handing the treasure bag to Vaporeon, and began to meditate, focusing the aura around my paws.

Rose yipped loudly as her foe scratched her hard with his claws, and her eyes flashed as Excadrill began to float, and a strange, chromatic beam of light shot out from in front of her head, nailing the mole's makeshift helmet and dropping him onto the ground, where he sat, momentarily befuddled, throwing slashes every which way. "No... _My_ Gear!"

"What?" I said, giving Rose a look of confusion. "It's obvious that he doesn't want us taking the Time Gear, but why is he so adamant about it?"

Rose growled. "I'm pretty sure that he can't think of any other way... I think he's just an infant Pokemon!"

As Excadrill returned to his senses, he stared at me, surprised that I had recovered so quickly, and immediately began to drill his way towards my legs. I quickly rolled out of the way. "It would explain his temper, but would Dialga really make a baby guard something so important to him?"

An incredibly powerful earthquake rocked the room, sending Rose onto the floor, and I felt a sharp blade carve its way into my leg. Excadrill's drill run hit me head on and without warning, sending my flying onto my back. As I tried to sit up and get my bearings, I saw the mole hoisting a boulder nearly thrice his size above his head, and I blanched. The world seemed to slow to a crawl as he flung the projectile at me.

"NO!"

An incredible blast of pressurized water shot straight through the rock, causing it to explode into a mass of shards, the resulting dust cloud engulfing half the room. Holding my breath, I got up and focused my aura into my vision. Rose and Excadrill both appeared, confident yellow outlines clean and obvious, and I turned to look at my savior.

Vaporeon's aura was a determined, angry orange, and he let loose another round of water before digging furiously into the ground. As the air finally cleared, I opened my eyes to see Excadrill, crying out as the water gun hit him, and I gasped as he flew into the air in a sudden explosion of dirt. "Bill, now!"

Nodding at Vaporeon, I formed an aura sphere between my palms, taking careful aim, and throwing it. It hit Excadrill with full force, and he flailed wildly in the air before crashing down in front of Rose, who immediately hit him with a flamethrower. Unable to withstand the force of three consecutive attacks, he smashed into the Time Gear's altar, giant cracks forming from the collision, and he slowly slid down onto his bed of grass, completely and utterly defeated.

For a good few moments, Rose, Vaporeon and I just stood there, catching our breath after the fierce battle. Suddenly, Vaporeon began to bounce up and down, a look of pure ecstatic joy on his face. "Yes! We did it!"

Smiling broadly, I walked over to him and tugged on his collar playfully, and got a light blast of water to the face in response. Rose laughed merrily as she trotted over as well, and soon all three of us wrapped up in a big celebratory group hug.

"I can barely even believe you pulled that stunt, kid," I quipped good-naturedly, and Vaporeon gave me a confident smile.

"I... I wasn't going to let him hurt you. Not after..." He trailed off, looking away, and I blinked, confused for a moment before it dawned on me.

_Lying there unable to do anything... I must have reminded him of his dad, huh..._

Untangling myself from the mass of arms and legs, I walked over to Excadrill, placing a paw on his chest. His heartbeat was somewhat difficult to feel, but it was there. Noticing a small blotch of color peeking out from the dead brown plants, I pulled out the book the mole had been sleeping on before. Crudely written on the cover were the words **Property of E**.

"Huh. Looks like a journal of some kind," Rose said. Flipping it open, I began to quickly flip the pages, frowning.

"They're all blank, though," I remarked, though I let out a 'hup' as a flash of ink appeared on the last page. "Well, 'cept this last one."

"Well, what's it say?" She asked excitedly. "Read it!"

"Fine, fine, here we go."

**To whomever may be reading this,**

** If you're reading this, then I've just restated the obvious. You've also defeated my son in a battle, which speaks volumes about you.**

** I suppose I should explain. I'm going to die in a matter of days, and my son will be prematurely taking my place as the next in a long line of guardians of this island's Time Gear.**

** I never thought he'd be so powerful after evolving, especially at such a young age. I doubt he realizes he's the indirect cause for this entire mess. What a pity.**

** I can feel something changing in the air. Something very wrong is happening to Temporal Tower, and soon someone will come for the Time Gear.**

** Or perhaps not. Perhaps time is already fixed with some of the other Time Gears, and this one will end up being sold for an enormous sum of money.**

** Since you defeated my son, however, I cannot believe that you would do such a thing. Most petty thieves would have given up after the first attack and ran away.**

** Regardless, if whoever's reading this would mind fulfilling a request for me...**

** Please, now that his duties are over, take care of my son.**

** - Excadrill the Fourth**

An uneasy silence filled the air, and I took the treasure bag back from a thoughtful-looking Vaporeon, reaching inside and pulling out the exploration badge, the jet-black metal gleaming brightly.

"Well, I think everyone will be interested in hearing about this. Shall we bring Excadrill over there along?"

* * *

><p>"I'm... shocked. Truly."<p>

The first thing we had done was go to the meeting hall, where we found Samurott standing all by himself in front of the building, and he had greeted us warmly. We had hoofed it over to the infirmary to drop Excadrill off, and Vaporeon took his leave to go find Tropius and tell him about what had happened, leaving just Samurott, Rose and I.

"A Time Gear, here all this time and none of us knew about it," He said, a faint trace of awe still present in his voice. "The sheer idea of it simply boggles me. How did nobody find it for all this time?"

"Well, obviously we didn't need it, seeing as time's pretty stable with just the five we used back during the Crisis," I stated firmly. "We didn't bring it with us for a reason."

Rose nodded. "And there was no telling what would happen to the Marine Resort without the Gear."

Samurott nodded sagely before letting out a dry snicker. "Indeed. Goodness knows what the rest of the world might have thought if time suddenly stopped immediately after the first-ever Master's Festival!"

I toyed with my aura tassels, looking at the clear, blue sky. The Festival... in all the excitement with the mines and everything, I had almost entirely forgotten about it. "I'm guessing the festival's over, then?"

"Well, yes," Samurott began, walking outside, down the path leading to the hot springs. Hoisting the treasure bag up onto my back, Rose and I slowly followed.

"Most of the goers have already left the island, and much of the area the festival took place at has already gone back to the typical lifestyle the natives have," He explained, gesturing behind us with his hand. "For all intents and purposes, you could say that the actual partying part of it is over."

Rose and I both looked around at this. Aside from a Clefable dashing past us, the plaza was empty and quiet, the only noise the gurgling of the fountain. Most of the tents had disappeared, and the place felt more like a cozy little town than a bustling tourist attraction.

"Hmmph... " Rose hunched, letting out a sad sigh, and she shot a disappointed look at me. "We barely even got to enjoy it!"

I was glad that my blush couldn't be seen through my fur. After all, it _had_ been my nudging about a relaxing vacation that allowed us both to go in the first place. Carefully sidestepping the issue, I casually asked, "So what happens now?"

Samurott smiled as we arrived at the hot springs, and he opened the door. "Well..."

As Rose and I walked inside, we nearly had our heads blown off by a loud, rousing cheer that seemed to rock the very foundations of the building. "SURPRISE!"

The room was decorated with a number of objects, mostly bunches of tropical flowers and bits of colorful fabrics. A table had been brought in, covered with a white cloth and a veritable rainbow of fruit-filled bowls, the mix of flavorful scents perfuming the air. And there, standing in front of us, was an enormous group of Pokemon. Wigglytuff, Team Explorers, Tropius, and bunches upon bunches of nameless villagers... I scratched the back of my ear in embarrassment. "You guys... what's all this?"

A pair of green snakes dashed out from behind their mother, latching onto my legs excitedly. One of them burst out, "Ooh! It was our idea!"

The other nodded. "Mmhm, it was our idea."

Thankfully, Rose nudged the twins off of me with her nose, and I knelt down. "Well, uh, thank you?"

Serperior slithered over, a thin smile gracing her features. "Smuggy and Leafy both wanted to show their appreciation for your help in all of this, right?" She eyed them expectantly, and they quickly nodded.

"So what happened?" Leafy immediately exclaimed, and I blinked at the rather frank question. "We heard you went after those big bad guys!"

"Yeah, and since you're here now, that means you beat 'em," Smuggy added hopefully. "C'mon, tell us tell us tell us!"

Wigglytuff soon bounded over, somehow not losing the apple bouncing between his ears, and picked the kids up. "Friendly-friends! We all want to hear about what happened!"

Looking around the room, everyone seemed to be in mutual agreement: Lopunny nodded, Emboar and Serperior simply breathed quietly, and Tropius eyed us with a curious expression. Samurott simply nodded his approval. The only one that shied away from me when I looked at him was Vaporeon, who seemed to be embarrassed.

"You mean Vaporeon didn't tell you? I asked him to."

All eyes went to him.

"I... it's your story to tell, not mine. I just helped a little bit."

I sighed, walking over and picking the kid up with both arms. Yelping, he struggled a bit before I set him down in front of where I had been standing originally. Smiling comfortingly, I tugged lightly on his collar.

"Then we'll tell it together," I offered. "You had just as much part in it as Rose and I."

And so that's exactly what we did (though I strategically... omitted the bit where I let Team Skull go). The resulting reactions were... varied, at least.

"A Time Gear?"

"What's a Time Gear?"

"The infant Pokemon is in the infirmary? How badly did you hurt him?"

"Oh my goodness, you poor things!"

"Hold it!" Samurott yelled over the din, and I was grateful that he chose to be the voice of order for this, having chosen to hear the story before. "I understand all your concerns, but right now, it is not the time for interrogation!"

"But-" A voice tried to say.

"No, my friend," Samurott had the barest hint of a snarl in his voice. "I realize you have your worries, but this is a party! Let's relax, and celebrate the fact that this whole debacle is over!"

Rose broke into a wide smile. "Yeah! You're right, this is all over with now!"

"You planned a celebration party without even thinking that we might not have made it?" I cocked my head, putting on my best skeptic look. "Seems kind of jump-to-conclusion-ish."

Samurott placed a paw on my shoulder, shaking his head with a laugh. "I had confidence that you'd do just fine, and you proved me right. All three of you," He looked at Vaporeon out of the corner of his eye, who glowed from the praise. The room went into an odd silence, not awkward nor tense. It was... a happy silence.

"So, come on, friendly-friends!" Wigglytuff yelled, the Perfect Apple atop his head flying upward. His joy was infectious, as everyone had a smile grow onto their face. "Let's _party!_"

Said party lasted well into the evening, mostly consisting of local music, dancing, eating, and general conversation. Thankfully most of the group left Rose and I well enough alone with each other and our thoughts, and I was certainly content with watching the guildmaster twirl around with Lopunny like some kind of rapid-spinning maniac. Rose munched quietly on a Pecha berry, ignoring the spectacle.

"So," I started, and she swallowed a mouthful of fruit before turning to look at me. "That's that, huh."

She nodded. "Yup. By this time tomorrow or the day afterward it'll be back to the normal grind."

Folding my arms, I glanced at the ceiling. "What happens now, then?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, uh..." I spun my paw around the air, trying to form the words. "I guess we'll have to talk to Lapras about meeting up with Dialga again, huh?"

"Yup," She nodded.

"And then we'll have to explain everything to him."

"Yup," She took another bite of fruit, chewing a bit.

My eyes narrowed mischievously. "And then we'll go and start exploring on the moon, right?"

"Yup," Another nod. Her eyes twinkled. I had been outfoxed, mentally excusing the pun, and my face flattened.

"You're not even listening."

"No, I'm not," Rose shook her head, giggling. "Bill, you need to loosen up a bit! Listen to what Chief Samurott said!"

"Meaning?"

"Well, c'mon!" I felt Rose bump me forward with her tails, and I stumbled out onto the floor, nearly losing my balance. She stood up, her snack temporarily left behind, and padded up next to me, beginning to wiggle around like a worm. "Let's dance, Bill!"

I sighed, ungainly shuffling around and bumping into other dancers as I moved from side to side, and after the fifth raised eyebrow I resolved to simply focus on Rose the whole time. She just kept smiling, despite my bumbling, and I shrugged. "I'm not very good."

She drew in closer, licking my cheek affectionately, and I instinctively held her close, both of us swaying slowly. "And that's fine with me."

I closed my eyes. If she was happy, then I was happy. All was right with the world.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, in a quiet, moonlit room, a little Pokemon stirred. He winced, his head pounding for some strange reason. Twisting onto his side, he stared into the face of a large, pink Pokemon, small wings poking out from behind her back. Excadrill gasped.<p>

"Who..." He managed to stammer, and he tried to lift a claw to attack this strange, unfamiliar foe, only to feel the strength drained from his body. "Who?"

"Oh, you've awakened, hm?" The Pokemon's eyes softened. "That's good!"

Excadrill lay back, frustrated by his apparent inability to break free from his captor. "Can't move."

"I think you wouldn't want to anyway, dear," The voice spoke, a motherly tone in her voice. "For such a little boy you took quite a tumble!"

The mole scrunched his eyes, trying to remember anything from before now. His memory was hazy, but he remembered battling some thieves. Though he couldn't, for the life of him, remember what they looked like. "Not tumble. Fight."

A chuckle. "Oh, alright then, a 'fight'. You must have been very big and strong to survive what you did, then, mister fighter!"

Excadrill thought harder, and the pink Pokemon continued. "I heard you came from the mines. Goodness knows what you were thinking, but the fact that you went in there and lived amazes me."

This piqued his curiosity. "Why?"

"Oh my dear, did your parents never tell you?" Surprise left the woman's lips. "Horrid, mean old Pokemon live in the mines!"'

Excadrill pouted. "Don't have parents."

"You don't?" A note of pity was evident. "I'm sorry. Maybe you can live with one of us islanders! I'm sure anyone would be glad to take you in."

He was silent. He wasn't sure what to think, nor was he sure what he was remembering, but his attention drew away as he saw the pink thing walk up to him. "Hold still dear, I need to be precise for this to work."

The Pokemon held up a hand, glowing a faint blue, and she held it against Excadrill's forehead. His mind clicked into gear as the pain suddenly drained away. "Gear. Gotta get the Gear."

"Shhh, child," She replied. "You must be tired... here, let me sing you a lullaby."

"No," Excadrill protested weakly. "Thieves might take Gear."

His captor ignored his pleas, and a quiet, solemn song began to take form, soothing his mind and making him sleepy.

"Gotta..." The mole yawned. "Gotta.. get the Gear..."

"Hush, sleepyhead," The voice began to sound odd, like she was drifting farther and farther away. "Maybe when you've recovered a little more you can go get whatever it is you need. But for now, just rest."

"Rest..." The infant smiled as he slowly nodded off. Satisfied, the pink Pokemon gathered a blanket and snuggly tucked the boy in. As she began to leave her patient's room, she turned.

"Good night."

* * *

><p><strong>~THE END<strong>~

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And that's that. I might write an epilogue, something short, but for all intents and purposes Secret of Marine Resort is finished.**

**I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please drop a review if you feel like it, I'd love to hear back.**

**(Commentary on this chapter and the rest can be found on my Deviantart "SkyBlueFox")  
><strong>


	8. Doslov

_ Dear Team Returners, Bill and Rose,_

_ Thanks for writing to me! You have no idea how happy I was to get a letter from you guys! It meant a lot._

_ The past month has been good. Everything here at the Marine Resort has been going well, and things are finally going back to normal. Everyone seemed rather shell-shocked when it finally sunk in that there was a Time Gear on the island, but Elder Tropius was able to get everyone to keep calm. I'm happy everything's peaceful again; nearly everyone was using the hot springs as a meetup spot and I was getting really overworked!_

_ Excadrill has been fine over here. I actually decided to be the one to take him in, and he's actually been a big help around the hot spring! He's had a hard time controlling his own strength though, and the Elder and I have been helping him try to adjust. It's been difficult, and there's been more than a few times when Excadrill nearly had a temper tantrum, but we've been making decent progress. He doesn't seem to remember his dad at all, and he doesn't bring up the Time Gear that often, either. Sometimes I feel bad for not telling him about everything, but then I realize that it would do more harm than good at the moment. Maybe a few years from now, when he's a little older._

_ Thanks for telling me that Dialga would be coming to visit soon to pick up his Time Gear. While it's unfortunate that you don't know whether he's going to make an appearance at the village or not, it's good that we know ahead of time. Elder Tropius sends his regards._

_ Excadrill is bugging me to take him out for another practice session, so I'm going to stop here._

_ Your friend,_

_ Vaporeon_

* * *

><p><em> Dear Team Returners, Bill and Rose,<em>

_ Thank you for informing me about the Time Gear on the Marine Resort (and thank you for giving Lapras a letter to give to me instead of visiting me proper - I wouldn't have been very happy if you had done the latter). I've realized for a while that something small about Temporal Tower felt out of place, but due to previous circumstances I had more pressing issues to deal with._

_ My brother Palkia visited me some time ago and told me of the trials you went through concerning Darkrai. I was shocked and angered at the nightmare-inducing Pokemon's actions, but was also quite pleased at how you two, along with Cresselia, handled the situation. I feel slightly guilty that I forgot to tell Palkia about the small distortion that you two would create, again, I had much more important matters to attend to._

_ On a related note, I understand that Palkia foiled Darkrai's attempt to escape by shattering his Dimension Hole. I don't remember if Palkia explained the effects of this to you or not, let me explain in case you don't: what happened to you, Bill, has happened to Darkrai as well. While this doesn't mean that he has suddenly transformed from a Pokemon to a human, what it __**does**__ mean is that he has ended up somewhere in the world, with no memories of what transpired before. I cannot divine where he has been sent to, and Palkia will likely not spend the time to do so (though I could give him as much time as he wanted, hah!), so if you two see or hear anything about Darkrai showing up somewhere, please investigate to the best of your ability. While I don't think that he will regain his memory and attempt to sabotage either of us again, better safe than sorry._

_ - Dialga_

* * *

><p><em> International Association of Exploration Teams<em>

_ To be sent to Master-Ranked Team Returners, of Treasure Town's Wigglytuff Guild:_

_ A situation has come up on the northern continent that has been given our utmost attention, and after deliberate consideration, we have decided on sending Team Returners to the outpost on the mainland to learn of the problem and fix it in whatever way you are able. Reprinted here is the request itself:_

_**"To IAET,**_

_** Please help! Rescue teams have begun to go missing, and even our resident Master-Ranked team, Oakwood, has disappeared! I cannot send any of our novice teams; our resources are already stretched too thin!**_

_** - Elder Whiscash"**_

_ As you can see, this is a confusing and potentially dangerous situation. However, based on previous experience with similarly confusing and dangerous situations, you are being ordered to travel to the northern continent immediately. The information you need to give to your mode of transportation is included. Gather whatever supplies you need and leave as soon as possible!_

_ - Chief Samurott, leader of Team Explorers_

...

...there's a note scrawled on the back of the paper!

_P.S: I'm sorry I have to send this along under these circumstances, but I wanted to thank you for your help at the Marine Resort. Without you two I doubt it would have ended as smoothly as it did._

_ We've been well. Smuggy and Leafy are both fine, actually rather inspired by your little tale of daring-do, and they actually haven't acted up the entire month! While it sounds silly, you really have no idea how enjoyable it is to have them quiet. Serperior and Emboar send their regards._

_ Now to the matter at hand. While I realize that you've already read the message, I'm able to give you more details this way. Recently our rescue team division a continent over had a rash of stolen artifacts, salvaged from old ruins. They sent in a few teams to go and deal with the problem, but they never returned. After a while, they began to send in more and more teams, and now they've barely got enough Pokemon to handle the constant workload._

_ While I realize that it's only been a month since what happened at the Marine Resort, I'm afraid that the rest of the council, bar myself and my teammates, emphatically voted to send you in. I suggested alternatives, such as Team Raiders, but most of them are on other missions given to them much earlier, and in the end we really had nobody else to turn to._

_ Please, stay on your guard. I don't want to lose you two, either._

_ ~ Samurott_

* * *

><p>I looked over the three letters one more time, shaking my head in mock-disbelief as I let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Go figure."<p>

Rose looked over, dropping the satchel of seeds she had been carrying, and sighed. "No rest for the working, huh?"

Carelessly tossing the papers aside, I walked over, picking up a bundle of rocks and throwing spikes as I helped Rose pack up our treasure bag, and smiled at her.

"Well, I think we'll be fine as long as we work together, right, partner?"

Rose smiled back.

"Right."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yes, that is a Stinger you see before you. While I don't know when I'll actually start it, there's no way I'm not doing something like this again. Writing this was fun.  
><strong>


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